August 29, 2024 • 47 mins
What if local politics could be as engaging and entertaining as a night at a comedy club? This week on "Meet the Candidate," we sit down with John Parr, a dynamic city council candidate for Burbank, who blends comedic activism with a genuine passion for community development. Discover John's unique journey from the sandy beaches of San Juan Capistrano to the halls of Loyola Marymount University, and hear how his gap year teaching English in Costa Rica shaped his views on education and community service. Learn about the similarities between San Juan Capistrano and Burbank and what motivates John to make local politics an honest and engaging venture.
Get ready for a hearty laugh as we dive into the quirks of city council meetings and John's career as a touring comedian. With upcoming gigs in Toronto and New York, John shares hilarious anecdotes about the absurdities of city council procedures and the joy of parenting. We also explore his Netflix series "Chad and JT Go Deep," where comedic activism takes center stage at city council meetings. John gives us a glimpse into his stand-up routines that balance humor with thought-provoking insights, emphasizing the value of intelligent comedy in today's society.
Transportation and infrastructure take the spotlight as John discusses pressing issues facing Burbank. From the limitations of the bus system to the success of the Chandler Bike Path, we explore practical improvements for pedestrian safety and electric vehicle infrastructure. John offers a balanced view on the controversial ban on electric scooters and the complex issue of homelessness, suggesting actionable solutions. We also cover the proposed Bus Rapid Transit project and its potential impact on the community. Tune in for an episode filled with humor, insight, and a refreshing perspective on local governance with John Parr.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name is John Parr and I'm running for city council
.
Listen to what I have to sayabout my background and my
visions for the future in thisedition of Meet the Candidate.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
My Burbank Talks presents another episode of Meet
the Candidate, the show wherewe invite anyone appearing on
the Burbank ballot in the 2024election to join us here and
give our listeners a chance tolearn about their background and
the issues important to them.
Now let's join our podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Hello, Burbank, Craig Sherwood here with you once
again for another edition ofMeet the Candidate, and today we
have a city council candidate,John Parr, with us, who's going
to talk about us and about hisbackground and what's he going
to do to become elected and foryou to get to know him, which is
the most important thing.
So let me give you a littlebackground on John here.
(00:46):
John is a professional comedicactivist and a writer who has
spent the last decade of hiscareer using his comedy to bring
attention to important issuesof the day.
He and his comedy partner havebrought their comedic activist
message from local city halls tocable news programs and daytime
and late-night talk shows.
(01:07):
And now to why Burbank Talksmeets the candidate.
Of course, John is a native ofSouthern California, born and
raised in San Juan Capistrano,so he may have seen a lot of
swallows, I guess, in his day.
He credits his childhood frombeing raised by a Colombian
immigrant mother and anenterprising father who created
a strong work ethic to drive andmake an impact in his life.
(01:29):
He graduated from LMU with adegree in screenwriting and
moved to Burbank in 2022, wherehe and his spouse are raising
their 13-month-old twins.
Holy cow, if that alone isn'tenough for anybody.
Two, Two 13-month-old twins,Holy cow.
If that alone isn't enough foranybody two, Two 13-month-old
twins, We'll ask him in a secondhow much he gets to sleep at
(01:50):
night.
John is running for city councilbecause he wants to make
politics a party.
That's interesting.
He has seen voter cynicism growto record highs over recent
years and he wants to makepolitics and government
something people not onlybelieve in but find fun and
exciting too.
He wants to bring new people tothe government, to the
(02:12):
government party, by bringing asense of realness and honesty to
politics, and reignite thedemocratic spark in people who
have grown disenchanted withgovernment.
Oh, I think this will be a veryinteresting podcast.
I think this will be a veryinteresting podcast and I think
this will be very informative.
John, how are you doing?
I'm doing well.
How are you?
Things are good, Things arereal good.
(02:33):
Let's get back.
You know we read the bio hereso people understand the
background a little bit.
But let's get, let's start back.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
You know where did you grow up San Juan Capistrano
in Orange County.
For how long I was there in SanJuan, from 8 to 18.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Okay, so not bad.
No, it was a good run.
You probably had a lot of thebeach life back then and all
that.
And what did you do for funback then?
What is fun to do besideswatching the?
Speaker 1 (03:01):
swallows.
We see it's actually theswallows don't fly there anymore
.
I mean they, we keep up theswallows parade because it's
such a big part of the culture,but I think they actually land
in tustin now and have for thepast 40 years, but we're still
getting a bit of a stolen uh,avion valor on it you know, I'm
sure the local chamber ofcommerce is putting on the
events for to raise money foreverybody to come out there and
(03:23):
watch them and maybe releasesome fake type things.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
It's a big people, yeah that's pretty funny.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I didn't I didn't realize that, but it's a great
place to grow up and I did go tothe beach a lot.
I always enjoyed playing beachvolleyball and body surfing and
all the uh different things youcan do in the water how do you
find san juan capistrano similarto Burbank?
It is similar, actually it hasthe same kind of a.
(03:51):
It doesn't feel too corporate,there's a lot of small business
there and the community feelswarm when you go around the town
.
There's real personality there.
It feels rooted in history andyou don't feel like, uh, it came
out of a box so it has a smalltown feel to it for sure burbank
(04:11):
does.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
The population there's offhand, I think it's
like 35 000.
Okay, we're about 100 000 here,so about three times as large
yeah, probably about the samearea, though I think probably
we're like 17 square miles hereabout the same.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
there a lot of hillsides, a hillsides, a lot of
open horse grounds and whatnot.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Okay, Interesting, so okay.
So after high school you wenton to college at LMU.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
It was just the cutest route to get to college.
Oh well, let's talk about that.
I went to Costa Rica for a year.
I taught English to kids there,lived with British guys who
were doing their gap year.
I don't think I was the bestteacher, but I had a lot of fun
hanging out with the peoplethere and the kids there.
We coached them in soccer aswell.
I wasn't the best player, but Ibrought up a lot of enthusiasm
(04:57):
to the pitch.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
I think that's part of what our life experiences are
, though, is doing things maybeout of your comfort zone, maybe
you know a totally differentplace and atmosphere, and what
did you?
When you're done with Costa,Rica.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
what are your memories of Costa Rica?
Now, you know it's cliche, butprobably the Pura Vida of it.
That's like their popularsalutation.
It means pure life.
But they kind of embody that.
They're like a very warm andlike uh, I don't know engaging
and fun, like kind of culture.
And I also got to know theBritish guys well too and they
brought a lot of their kind ofuh humor and and banter to it.
(05:37):
So probably just getting out ofmy orange County bubble and
just seeing how the rest of theworld was and and kind of
finding my own footing as anadult outside of like my
familiar surroundings.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I think that's great.
I think it's it's important tohave those kinds of life
experiences.
So we spent a year in CostaRica.
Now we come back and go to LMUafter that.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Oh no, Junior college .
Okay, I did, I did my roundsthere and you know, actually I
bounced around from a few but alot of my best experiences were
at junior college.
I felt like my most.
That's when my intellectualcuriosity really kicked in and I
really got into reading and artand just kind of trying to
build my brain, and I had a lotof good teachers who kind of
(06:23):
encouraged that in me, which Istill remember fondly.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
I think JUCOs get a bad rap in the sense that you
know out of high school well,you're going to go to college.
Well, I'm going to go to, youknow, valley College and they're
going oh, valley, where are yougoing?
Well, I'm going to go to USC.
Well, the core classes areexactly the same those first two
years, no matter what schoolyou go to.
And let's face it, economically, two years at SC compared to
(06:51):
two years at Valley College is ahuge, huge financial difference
.
Experience Well, you know whatyou transfer to the USC, you
transfer to the LMU, youtransfer to those colleges and
when you get a degree, it saysLMU, it doesn't say LMU via
Valley College.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
I didn't even have to tell you yeah, yeah, right.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
So I think the JUCOs get a really bad rap in it.
I think it's a greatalternative for people and
economically it's feasible and Ithink it's you know.
So I don't think it's any kindof stigmatism at all when people
go to junior colleges.
I think it's actually a verysmart thing to do.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, I loved it and I really tried to bring like
enthusiasm to it, because I feltlike there was a lack of school
spirit and I wanted people tofeel like even though you know
we were all kind of hoping to gosomewhere else that we
appreciated the time we hadthere.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I think people don't kind of think about this, but
you get out of anything what youput into it.
If you go with a negativeattitude, you're going to get
probably a negative experience.
If you go there and embrace,the experience probably a lot
different.
So did you have any activitiesyou did?
Which JC did you go to?
I went to a lot Once again.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Once again, you stuck with it, though oh, totally,
and actually I bounced aroundcoast.
I went to new york and I wentto borough of manhattan
community college sorry, I knowthat's a, I'm charting a big map
right now but that was probablymy favorite one that I went to,
because it was such aninternational school, there was
people from everywhere, and so Iended up becoming a comedian
and that was probably the firsttime where I realized, oh, I'm
(08:26):
making people from ghana laugh,I'm making people from china
laugh, like maybe I'm not justfunny to my bros in orange
county, maybe I got somethinghere, and so it was uh, I'm so
grateful for just the uh, thecultural like uh mesh I got to
be a part of once.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Once again, our experiences is what does you
know if you don't get out ofOrange County and go to New York
?
You don't do those things.
Are you the man you are today?
That's always a lot ofquestions.
I mean, do you think thatreally has helped make who you
are?
Oh, 100%.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, Just even being on the subway and being around
all those different people andjust be nose to nose with people
at six 30 in the morning andeveryone's just tired and wants
to be anywhere else, you can'tavoid the the humanity of it all
, Like you're in it and it makesyou you know there's a vitality
to it that I really love.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Excellent, so okay, now we finally did make it to
LMU.
Yes, you get to get two yearsstraight at LMU.
Yes, and why?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
screenwriting.
I've always just been obsessedwith, uh, art and film
specifically.
Like in high school I wasalways reading books about
cinema raging bulls and easyrider, easy riders and raging
bulls and rebels on the back lotand all of Roger Ebert's books
about the great movies, and andI just found Roger Ebert, who's
one of my heroes he had a greatquote about film that it's a
vehicle for empathy, and Ialways found that to be true.
(09:46):
Every time I watched movies itwas like I was learning about
all these different people,people that weren't like me,
people who had different sexualorientations, different national
pride, different desires, andit connected me to them in a way
that just contributed to a moreopen-minded worldview.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
That's excellent.
That's that's excellent when umI I think that you know, if you
make to the burbank citycouncil, you know we have one of
our council members now who's alittle bit of a comedian, also,
constant anthony.
I've been talking to him, greatguy, a background, so we can
have a lot of levity if you're,if you do get elected.
So two years at lmu, got ascreenwriting degree what was
(10:26):
next?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I started working in a production.
I started working at a podcastcompany called Earwolf.
That was a mostly comedypodcast and that's when that
industry was first.
Like I was going to say, howlong ago was that?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
probably 11 years ago , so that's when podcasting was
it was just starting.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
It was a brand new thing, but it was starting to
get like.
I kind of had a dog whistle earfor comedy and I knew they were
doing a lot of really cool,interesting stuff over there and
but I was there when it startedto grow and I was the assistant
to the CEO and I got to watchhim kind of design the business
around it, which was reallyexciting.
I became a PA at another reallycool comedy company called
(11:03):
Abso-lutely.
That's over in Glendale, and Iworked there for about four
years and moved up intolocations, which was a really
exciting job as well andactually kind of paralleled the
political work I'm doing now,where you had to go door to door
and just ask people hey, can Irent your house for a shoot?
And so I'm comfortable going upto strangers and talking to
them about.
You know my ambitions forsomething.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Yeah, well, I think if it's important to you, you
don't have a problem dealingwith people you know and you're
confident in yourself.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
If you've got a mission, I think you can
accomplish a lot.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
It kind of bolsters you up, yeah, but that's also
confidence too, and it's alsosomething that's really
important, you know, is dealingwith people.
Thank you, that's kind.
So we went to.
We've done that for a while,and now how long?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
have you been married ?
So we're not officially marriedyet.
I call her my wife and we'regoing to get married soon.
How long have you been togetherfor?
We've been together for threeyears, okay.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
And let's talk about those 13 month old twins.
Was that an expected situation?
Number one having a baby.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Number two having two of those babies well, we
certainly wanted to have a child.
The fact that it was twins wassuper surprising and probably
the biggest shock of both of ourlives.
But now in retrospect, wewouldn't do it any other way.
It's such a gift to watch theminteract and just laugh like
I'll just come home sometimes.
And they're just laughingtogether for what I surmise is
no reason.
But they might have some secretlanguage that's, like you know,
(12:24):
very well developed and they'rejust laughing together for what
I surmise is no reason.
But they might have some secretlanguage that's very well
developed and they're justcracking up and I don't know.
We got a boy and a girl too, soit feels like I don't know,
something really is looking outfor us and gave us the best
possible outcome.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
That's outstanding.
Are you sleeping at night,though?
Speaker 1 (12:43):
We're lucky.
We actually managed to getthrough the first couple months
and, um, we had a good protocolfor their sleep, and now they're
sleeping seven to seven.
I'm almost wary to say that,though, because other parents
are struggling with them and Idon't want them to get upset
that we kind of got lucky withit and get a nice chunk of sleep
ourselves well, let's kind ofbring us up to the present.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Here we've got the kids and uh, the significant
other at home and all thosethings and uh.
So what are you doing now?
What?
What occupies your time rightnow?
Speaker 1 (13:13):
so I'm a comedian, so I tour.
I'm uh leaving on a september14th, I'm going to uh do a
couple gigs in toronto and thenI'm doing uh some tour dates in
New York.
So me and my partner, chad,who's my, we're a duo.
We do touring for standup andthen we've we also had a
television series that wecreated for Netflix called Chad
and JT go deep, which was builtaround our comedic activism,
(13:36):
which is something we've beendoing for almost a decade now,
and a lot of it actually takesplace at city council meetings.
So we first kind of gained alittle bit of notoriety by going
to city council meetings andadvocating for our political
causes, speaking from theperspective of like an oc bro,
which was like a a statue forpaul walker to unite the nation
or protecting house parties indowntown la, and uh we kind of
(13:58):
built a whole uh ideology aroundthat stuff and this now is
currently on net.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I mean you find it on Netflix somewhere If you do the
old search and all that.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yeah, if you look for chatting JT, go deep, it's on
there.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Really Okay.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Yeah, boost that viewer count.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
I'm going, absolutely I'm going to check it out.
I had never seen it on there,but you know I don't really
watch Star Wars.
Let me think here.
Well, you know, I mean Star.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Wars is pretty great.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
I don't watch that ticket personally, but anyhow,
okay, so well, that's going totake you kind of away from
Burbank during, you know, kindof the electioneering season
here.
Yeah, it's going to be tough.
Are you going to be able tospend much time here to get
involved with groups andorganizations and do all the
stuff that you have to do, kindof to?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
get to know people.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, I mean, I like doing stuff.
I don't like to be idle, so youknow I'm.
I try to pack my day with asmuch stuff as possible and I get
energy from it.
I'm very extroverted, so themore I do, the better I feel.
I'm only gone two weekends outof the month, so it's not as
strenuous of touring as someother guys do, so I think I'll
(15:07):
have plenty of time.
We're building out the calendarright now for campaigning, and
I'm still going to be doorknocking and calling, and we've
got a good team around me too tohelp me when I am gone.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
So I feel like I'll be able to do all the things I
want to do.
Well, you know city council.
At times it does crack me up.
The other night we had a citycouncil meeting and they spent
three hours on deciding how theycan make council meetings
shorter.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
I heard you talking about this and, as someone who's
been going to city councilmeetings for a decade, I
definitely think we could speedthe process up a bit.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Well, there's no doubt we can.
In fact, one is having moremeetings, so you're not there
until so late.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I think that's a great idea, because most places
do two meetings a month, I mean,you know, doing three a month.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Yeah we have to do two a month by city ordinance,
but why not do three a month?
They used to do three a monthyears ago and then they kind of
stopped doing that.
But I just thought it washilarious that they spent three
hours to figure out how toshorten a meeting, you know, and
they changed policies that werechanged about 10 years ago,
that were changed about 10 yearsbefore that.
So it's kind of a so, you know,sometimes, you know, city
(16:08):
council meetings are hilariousif you know how to find the
comedy in them, for sure.
So well, and speaking of comedy, what is your routine that you
do when you go to you're on theroad, you go to a comedy club.
What's the routine you guys cando?
Is it about politics?
Is it about, you know, popculture?
What's it?
(16:29):
What do you kind of talk about?
Speaker 1 (16:31):
I would say my standup is slightly different
than what I do at city councilmeetings.
At the city council meetingsI'm a bit more spaced out, I'm a
bit more like in my bro kind ofvoice, my bro vernacular.
When I do stand up, it's morepersonal, it's more
autobiographical.
You know, I I'm trying to do,uh, something that's in line
with what my heroes did, likerichard pryor or, um, um, mark
(16:55):
maron, just more straightforward, not quite confessional, but
more personally rooted stand up,okay.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
That's.
I'm sure that there's a great.
You know, I think intelligentcomedy has a real place in our
society.
You know, you can only get slapslapstick so long you know the
pie in the face, whatever it'sgoing to be, I don't work so
well.
I think people want to bechallenged and entertained at
the same time, which is a toughmix.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Yeah, it is, and some you know you can go too far
with challenging people and notyou know these people pay to
come to a show, they pay to beentertained.
So you need to do that job.
You need to make sure theyleave feeling good about the
experience but at the same time,you want it to be something
substantive and to actuallyengage with people in an
authentic way.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
So I'm always trying to balance that out.
People always say, when you'rea comedian, that you can read
the room immediately and youknow if you're, if you got them.
If you don't, what do you dowhen you don't have them?
Speaker 1 (17:47):
You power through, you sweat a little bit and you
just uh act as if you'recrushing, and then you know.
What also helps is taking asmall moment to say, hey, I know
I'm not doing great, and thatlets them know that you at least
see what's happening and thatengenders some trust.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
That's good.
Yeah, that would probably work.
Well, let's move on to Burbank.
Here, here we are.
So you spent two years here.
We're going to have some thingscoming up here which you know,
if you're going to get on thecouncil you have to deal with.
One is rent control.
So you have to deal with.
One is rent control.
Now do you have any feelings onand it's a very complicated
(18:26):
subject, because I really seehow landlords look at this,
especially your small mom andpop ones compared to your
corporate ones.
But I also see how the rentersand the way the renters are
nowadays.
So I think both sides havegreat points.
So how do you come down on thatwhole thing?
Speaker 1 (18:44):
It's such a complicated subject and I'm
still working my way through it.
I talk to people every day,especially over the last month
just trying to get a bettergrasp on it and I think Burbank
has a high population of renters60%, which is above the
national average and a lot ofpeople are month to month, month
to month and they're dealingwith, like housing insecurity.
So raising rents on people likethat is immoral.
But then you know, I talked topeople on the development side
(19:07):
and I understand that you knowthey need to.
We need to boost up the housingsupply so we can bring down the
median price of houses inBurbank, which is
extraordinarily high.
It's like 1.2 million.
You know a place like Charlottewhere they're less restrictive
with their housing developments,like 450,000.
So how do we boost up thehousing supply so prices come
down overall and so we have lessrenters and more homeownership.
(19:27):
I think the council is doing agood job and they have some
aggressive, you know,progressive platforms that are
well articulated, but I don'tknow if anyone's quite found the
right answer that's actuallygoing to solve the problem.
Well, that is the right answer.
That's actually going to solvethe problem.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Well, that's the, that's the.
That is the problem that wehave five people who are
supposed to solve that problem.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
So we'll see how that works out.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
It is Absolutely, and there's times that you are not
going to make friends.
I'm okay with that.
Okay, you?
Speaker 1 (19:58):
know what it is.
I very.
I love being close to people,but I also don't think conflict
or disagreement necessarilymeans that you have to think ill
of the other person.
I sometimes think that conflictand disagreement can actually
make you closer to other people,especially if you're being
honest in what you're saying.
So I kind of look forward todisagreeing with people.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
And that's part of it , and I think that the problem
in our country is we aren'twilling to listen to the other
side.
I had a last week.
I went to an event and therewere a couple of police
commissioners there and I'vebeen very critical of the police
commission and they both cameand we started to talk and we
listened to each other and itwas a great conversation, just
listening to each other, and Ididn't back away from what my
(20:42):
points were, and I didn't backaway from you know, because what
I say is what I believe, but Ialso listened to their points of
view too, and I understoodwhere they're coming from.
So I think we need more of thatinstead of being divisive all
the time.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Yeah, there's a vilification of other people.
That I think is not helpful,because if you're talking to
someone and you're looking atthem like they're you know, like
they have bad intentions orlike they're not a good person,
that really short circuits theconversation, and I think in
most instances we all want tosee a better community.
We just have different valuesthat guide us to our choices, so
(21:17):
I try to always be mindful ofwhere someone's coming from and
thinking that that's a positiveplace.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Absolutely.
Let's move on to another topicNow.
We did a show last week calledum ask the mayor, and we did the
entire show on a Burbank busand it was.
It was an outstanding show inmy opinion.
Of course, everyone one of myshows is a stand outstanding
show.
That was the one with DaveChristie.
Yes, absolutely, and you had achance to listen to it I did.
(21:45):
Okay, thank you for listening.
So transportation is a hugeissue in Burbank, whether it be
pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycles, electric vehicles and, of
course, regular vehicles.
And I've been always criticalof the Burbank bus system
(22:05):
because it's so limited in whatit does.
It doesn't serve the Hillcommunity whatsoever.
So, how do you?
What are your visions?
I mean, are you happy with whatwe have now or, if not, how
would you change it?
How would you modify it?
Because I think transportationis in the future.
It's.
How would you modify it?
You know, because I thinktransportation is in the future,
it's going to be very importantin our society.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Absolutely.
I think one thing that is mostimportant to me right now is
just pedestrian safety.
Especially having two youngchildren, I just want to make
sure we're driving in a safe wayand that maybe we can reduce
speed limits on service streetsso that because if you look at
the numbers, like if an accidenthappens under 25, the risk of
mortality goes downexponentially.
(22:45):
So I think that's somethingthat we can do immediately.
That is pretty agreeableoverall.
I think the chandler bike pathcould you explain more on why
that has been such a big successin your estimation?
Speaker 3 (22:53):
well, number one it was.
It was very controversial whenthey first put it in 20 years
ago and a lot of residents didnot want it.
The success to it is you dohave a lot of people with
mobility, with bicycles andeverything else, and this gives
us a lane from North Hollywoodand the Red Line all the way to
the Burbank Center and, ofcourse, now it follows all the
(23:15):
way into LA.
I think the goal was to go fromthe valley to the beach on a
bicycle, although I could neverdo that.
It's hard for me just to get onmy own bicycle.
But I think what that hasbecome is not only that, but for
people walking, walking theirdogs and being People in the
(23:35):
community all get together onthat bike path.
All the different aspects ofthe community go there and walk
it and talk with each other andit's become a real.
It's good for the connectivity,absolutely so.
I think that's where the youknow, that's where it has become
.
But that's not how it started.
So I think it was kind offorced down people's throats.
(23:55):
They didn't like it and nowthey're saying this is the
greatest thing ever, right?
You know how it is.
The NIMBYs were all like it andnow they're saying this is the
greatest thing ever, right?
Yeah, how it is.
The nimbys were all after it.
And now the nimbys are sayingoh, no, no, don't change the
thing.
Now we love this thing, youknow.
Now it's perfect, now we'redone.
So um, um, are you much of abicycle person or anything?
Speaker 1 (24:12):
I'm not well, but I do think it's more ideal than
driving.
Yes, that's true, I mean it'sbetter for the environment.
It's better for the environment, it's better for your health
and it's better, I think, likefor you're saying, for community
connectivity.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
What about electric vehicles and all that?
Because we're going electriccar and one of the things I'm
worried about is is that doesour infrastructure, are they
able to support?
All of a sudden, everybody getsan electric vehicle.
Well, that's a lot ofelectricity we need to generate
all of a sudden, and a lot ofyou know and our power bills are
going to.
Then, yeah, you save money ongas.
Well, now you're paying onelectricity.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
I mean, I do agree with you, I think.
But it's similar to the otherthing you were talking about.
We're like short term, we'renot going to like it in short
term, there's going to be issues.
But that comes up with me to bea better path forward.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
I think so.
Now of course, in Burbank wehave outlawed electric scooters
and the companies who rent them.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So this is complicated for me because in my
comedic activism I have been ahuge supporter of electric
scooters and I've gave a speechat the West Hollywood City
Council, speech at the WestHollywood city council begging
them to not ban electricscooters.
But as as the real me, I haveto say I think we're better off
(25:30):
not having them in Burbank, justbecause I think they create so
much detritus in the city andthere's such a health hazard
with injury and with impactingother people that I I I'm not
sure in every community isdifferent, but for Burbank and
for the lifestyle that mostpeople enjoy here, I don't think
they would be additive.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yeah, it's funny.
We're about a block from theborder here in North Hollywood
and I go up to the corner atClydebourne and as I drive down
Clydebourne I see scooterslittered all around Clydebourne
because their GPSs don't letthem come into Burbank.
Yeah, they shut down.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
So they shut down?
Speaker 3 (26:02):
I see them all on the border here and it just kind of
cracks me up a little bit.
Oh, now you're stuck, you'vegot to walk all of a sudden.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Yeah, in Santa Monica it's like it's intermittent.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
So you'll be on one block and it's working.
Then the's a lot of oppositionto him in Santa Monica also,
because people were so upsetthey were taking him and
throwing in the ocean all thetime.
And the companies are saying,okay, once we rent that thing
three times, it's paid foritself.
So we'll just keep making moreand more.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Yeah, it's, it's weird, it's.
I think if there was a betterpolicy in place for the handling
and maintenance of them, Iwould be more supportive of it.
But as of now, where people canjust chuck them and leave them,
it just doesn't feel fair tothe rest of the community.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Here's another one for you Cannabis stores Outlawed
in Burbank.
Can't have a cannabis store inBurbank.
Any thoughts on that?
Speaker 1 (26:53):
I mean, I totally understand where people are
coming from, not wantingcannabis stores in their
neighborhood.
You know, I think Burbank has awholesome sensibility that
should be protected and I do,just overall, sometimes feel
like change should be moreincremental so that people can
adjust to it.
But specifically with thecannabis stores we have liquor
stores, we have vape shops Ithink resistance to weed shops
(27:15):
is somewhat anachronistic and Ithink in time it won't feel like
as big of a leap as it does inthis moment.
So I'm I'm pro allowing weeddispensaries, or cannabis
dispensaries rather, to comeinto burbank, because also the
tax revenue that they'llgenerate will be good for the
city overall and we should betransparent about where that
money goes.
But I think it's uh, I don'tknow, I don't.
(27:36):
I don't think we should besending Burbank money into North
Hollywood or into neighboringcities.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
That's a good point.
Now I don't know if you've beenfollowing We've had a gun shop
thing and I was all for dealingdown to maybe four or five and
that was it.
But they're not doing that.
But they have now set updistricts or locations that gun
storage can now be in, and onlyif a new one comes to town.
There's only a couple verysmall spots they can open in
(28:03):
Burbank and I can see that theycould also do that with cannabis
shops and put those probably inthat same area.
They're not near schools,they're not near playgrounds,
they're not near residentialareas, so that might be a
solution there too.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Yeah, being intentional about where they're
located.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Oh, okay.
Well, let's move on here.
How do you feel about the gunshops?
The gun shops?
Well, I got to be honest withyou.
We were the ones who kind ofbroke the entire story to start
with.
I used to drive down Magnoliaand I used to say look at all
these gun stores.
And then I started looking intoit and I asked the city well,
(28:39):
how many gun stores?
And they sent me a list.
There were 14 dealers inBurbank.
I'm going 14?
There's like one or two in LA.
And why are there 14?
Why are there two shops?
And I understand how cardealerships work.
They put all the cardealerships together because we
walk dealership to dealershipand look at the cars these are
shipping cars, but gun shops.
And so I just thought way toomany.
(29:03):
I'm not against people owning agun, I'm not against.
This is nothing new to theSecond Amendment.
It's just too many.
And then I started looking intoit and found that the gun shops
were breaking state law and notwithin had to be within 500
feet of a school or something.
But there's nothing in the mapthat says it.
By the crow flies or by the.
The Thomas guide shows Right,or Thomas guides the old thing
(29:25):
for, uh, um, google maps in theold days for those who don't
understand, um, so uh, and Istarted a big story on it and
then it started, you know,because we're the meaty capital
of the world.
So I started saying, well, whereelse is now the gun store
capital of the world?
And we actually are.
There was more gun stores in afive-square-mile area of Burbank
than there were anywhere elsein the world.
(29:45):
So that's kind of what got usstarted, and I wanted to see it
capped at five stores.
You know, let the ones that areopen now stay open until, but
when they close, nobody else canopen them until they get down
to five.
But I think, I think once again,you have to listen to other
people and you have to listen toother things, and I'm happy
with how they they came up withit, and so while you can have
(30:10):
more gun stores, they have to bein a certain small area of
Burbank now.
So I'm okay, you know, just getthem off the main boulevards,
get them away from schools andwhere people are.
So that was my thoughts at thetime and I'm not going to put my
thoughts out there too Ofcourse I'm not the one who sits
on that dais and has to makedecisions.
(30:30):
So you say you've been up tocity council and talked.
What are some of the thingsyou've talked about when you've
gone up to speak to the council?
What are some of the issues youbrought up up there?
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Well, so oftentimes it's a comedic point of view and
I'm not necessarily speakingfrom my point of view.
It's this character that I'vekind of created, but the
character's genuine and I thinkfor the character to work I have
to touch on real subjects.
So there's always kind of anunderlying cultural truth that
(31:00):
I'm trying to hit on.
So I've done speeches aboutartificial intelligence and how
we need universal basic incomebecause of the job displacement
that's going to come from it.
But it's all done through likemy bro voice, where I'm like
dude, I don't want to work, I'mglad ai is coming here, so y'all
need to hook it up with somefat stacks so I can chill
without losing my place.
And uh, or um, we'll talk about, um, you know, solitary
confinement in prisons.
We've talked about, you know,last minute rides like
(31:24):
e-scooters.
We've talked about, um,inflation.
So we we tackle real subjectsand we're trying to encourage
real conversation in bothdirections.
But we're just going at it froma comedic perspective.
Okay, that's kind of the sugaron the pill.
I like to think of it as, yeah,and sometimes we need a bit
levity.
We really do, yeah, or like Iused to, um, I've gone on news
(31:47):
programs before as a commentatorand and uh, one uh bit we did
that turned into a genuinemovement.
That I think was actuallyhelpful was, um, the ocean
waters are heating up, as a lotof people know, and that was
causing, um, the destruction ofa lot of coral reef, which is
vital for that ecosystem.
So when coral reef gets heatedup, it bleaches itself, it turns
(32:08):
into kind of a white color andthat means it's uh, you know,
long, no longer uh, prospering,no longer living, no longer
helping.
So we bleached our hair toraise awareness because we were
saying it's at a dome for people.
But now it's on our domes andout of that we directed people
towards different organizationsthat were helping the coral reef
and we got a lot of people topay attention to it.
So you were all in on that one.
(32:30):
Yeah, I thought that was a goodone, and we went on Fox News to
talk about that.
So, and we went on Fox News totalk about that, so I was like
this is a huge opportunity,because this is an audience that
might be against some of thelegislation that's going towards
environmental protections.
But if I can be funny andcharming about this and if I can
treat them like we're the same,even if we don't have the same
viewpoints, I might be able toget someone who might not
otherwise have cared about thisinvolved.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Oh, absolutely.
Well, let's talk.
Let's talk about crime.
Let's talk about crime, let'stalk about police.
What are your feelings onpolice departments?
Are you quote defunding, whichI think is a very bad term?
I think people, instead ofdefunding, they mean to reduce
the officers and increase themental health in a department.
(33:12):
But it's hard to keep ourdepartment where it needs to be
staffed twice because peoplearen't really going to be cops
lately.
Plus, we're going to ourpopulation is going to grow here
substantially when you look atthe 5,000 houses they still have
to put in the next five years,the housing they're building now
.
So well, how do you feel about,you know, police and crime
(33:35):
right now and what's going onwith that whole thing and what
any, any, any uh thing you wantto throw?
Speaker 1 (33:41):
in there on that.
I mean, I certainly understandwhy people were upset towards
the police and there was acouple of, you know, huge
inflection points where I thinkit was.
It was good for our culture toshine a light on it and and hold
police more accountable forwhatever their procedures were
for moments where they wereoverstepping.
But I never was supportive oflike defund the police or some
of the other catchphrases thatbecame popular at the time,
(34:02):
because I just thought it lackednuance and it was somewhat
removed from practicality.
I don't mean that to diminishthe pain and anger that people
were feeling.
I think that was real and thatit was worth prioritizing in
that moment, but I don't thinklong-term it's the best
sustainable plan.
I think we need a strong policeforce.
I think accountability is goodand I think, you know, having a
(34:24):
fair distribution of cityrevenue going to other services
that could help people in needis is helpful.
And I don't think you knowpolice.
I don't think most policeofficers want to be responding
to a lot of the stuff that theyhave to respond to.
I think we want to keep themmore specialized in their job
function.
So, yeah, having more mentalhealth services, having homeless
(34:45):
shelters, things like that.
That can make it easier on thepeople who need it, but also
make it easier on the police whohave to deal with those
problems, is good for everyone.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Well, you touched on it, so we're going there.
Let's talk about the homeless.
It's the latest buzzword inCalifornia, of course, is this
homeless situation.
I saw that I believe it's LongBeach is going in and just
cleaning up the city completelyand the governor wants says, the
funding's there take care ofall these homeless people.
We do have a.
(35:15):
Yeah, I think the homelesspopulation in Burbank is around
120 to 150.
In that area, we have a couplethings that we're working on
here, but what are your thoughtsabout?
You know, what should we do toaid the homeless population here
?
Speaker 1 (35:32):
I think a homeless shelter would be good.
We don't have a designatedhomeless shelter.
I think that a lot ofneighboring cities have ones
that we could probably work inconjunction with and maybe take
some of their infrastructure andbuild a satellite unit out here
.
I think 120 is a manageablenumber.
It's something that we cancorrect and it's something that
I think we can pour personalattention into.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Okay, well, let me ask you this there's a homeless
person on the streets and hegoes.
I don't want your help, I don'twant your, your, your shelter,
I don't want your food.
I just leave me alone.
I want to just be right here onthis sidewalk or under this
bridge or whatever.
What do you do about that?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, I mean that will happen.
I hope you know by and large,statistically, that I mean that
will happen.
I hope you know by and large,statistically, that won't be the
norm and that's more an anomaly, but I think in that case you
know we have to havewell-trained individuals who are
it's their job to go out intothe city and to try to encourage
them to come to the shelter andtry to use the programs that
are available.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
I think you got to.
That's an uphill battle.
Once again, it's like anythingelse.
Think there's.
There's always two sides inamerica.
Can you force somebody to dosomething, you know if they
don't want to do it themselves?
Speaker 1 (36:42):
so it's, it's it is it's it's it's challenging.
But again, like you talkedabout, that's the duty of being
on the council, that's the dutyof leadership is that you have
to make these, you know, uphillbattles seem achievable, and I
think, think it is.
It can certainly be better.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
What about development in Burbank?
You know, how do you, how doyou look at either the small
businesses or corporatedevelopment or what's going on?
You know because that you know,that's our tax base, is where
our money comes from and allthat.
So how do you feel about oursmall businesses and what would
you do to help them, help ourbusiness community?
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Yeah, I think we definitely have to have tax
incentives for smallerbusinesses.
You know places where they haveless than like 10 employees and
we don't want to be taken overby kind of homogenous corporate
interests.
I think attracting outsidepeople to come in and bring
their small businesses here likecutting them, better
protections on buildings and onbusiness development here is is
vital.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
I think it's once again, I think our once again.
I think, like Magnolia Park,we've got to keep the hometown
feel of a Magnolia Park typearea they're talking about, and,
back in the day, transportationand business colliding is this
BRT is coming up, the bus, rapidtransit and they want to, you
(37:58):
know, knock all down to one lane.
And right now our city councilsaid now we don't really want to
do that, but what would do?
How?
How's your, what's your feelingon the brt subject?
I don't know much about it.
Well, I think you're going tobe lucky because I guess you
come up before the councilchanges over, so, but I think
it's going to be an ongoing.
It's going to be lucky becauseI think it's going to come up
before the council change isover, but I think it's going to
(38:19):
be an ongoing event.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
It's going to be an ongoing event, but I am curious,
could you?
We can move on, but if youcould, yeah, real quick.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
The BRT Metro wants to put a bus line through North
Hollywood to Pasadena on thestreets, and one of the things
they wanted to do it would comethrough Burbank and they and one
of the things they wanted to doit would come through Burbank
and they wanted to remove a laneof traffic on Olive and make it
a bus-only lane.
And the solutions were to putthe lane in the middle and then
(38:47):
put a, you know, one lanetraffic, one lane bus, and then,
you know, that was kind of it,you know, because there's a
parking, you know, for parking.
Still, another was to put a buslane and take out the parking,
leave the two lanes for cars.
Now businesses have no way forpeople to park and go into the
business.
They were talking about doinglike they're doing on Hollywood
(39:08):
Boulevard and making it down tothe one lane they have there and
with parking and bike lanes andall that.
So right now the city councilis asking, you know, between
Buena Vista and Lake, not to dothat.
But they are going to do otherparts of this project and we've
kind of agreed to that.
So that's where the contentionis right now.
(39:29):
Plus, they want the metro toimprove the Olive Bridge and be
able to put a station there.
So the buses widen the bridgeand put a bus area and so people
can take the bus and then takethe elevator down to the Metro
station, which they can't do now, which right now the bus had
left them out about a quartermile away from it, which is not,
once again, practical.
So that that's a lot of thingsgoing on with that.
(39:51):
They haven't no decisions havebeen made, but they are we.
They haven't no decisions havebeen made, but they are.
We have a subcommittee workingwith Metro and it's supposed to
come back in a month or two andwe'll see what happens.
But you know, I think that youknow, we talked to the mayor a
little bit and they want proofof concept, which I agree with
(40:17):
you.
Show me you have a bus with 75%full all the time, and I get it
.
But to take a lane of trafficaway from Olive, they're only
talking about about a minute and30 seconds of savings in time.
And so, yeah, you save a minuteand 30 seconds on a bus by
doing that, but now, with onelane, you increase the you know
the wait, maybe 10 minutes in avehicle.
So is that and plus then peoplestart going down the side
streets to avoid all that.
So you know, is that, and plusthen people start going down the
side streets to avoid all that.
(40:38):
So you know, quality of lifeissues and all those things
compared to the future andtransportation, slippery slopes.
But I think there needs to be abetter alternative, such as
take the darn bus down Alamedaand make a left and come up
victory to Olive if you need to.
That might solve that wholeproblem.
But who am I to throw my twocents in?
It sounds valuable.
(40:58):
That's kind of what the BRT andBird Bank, in a nutshell, got
it.
Well, let's see.
Here I think we're getting nearthe end.
I appreciate you coming in andI appreciate your sense of humor
.
I really think we need a senseof humor.
(41:21):
Besides, you know there's timesto always be serious, there's
no doubt.
But we also need a little bitof levity at times too, because
it's not all that bad and allthat serious all the time.
And so I think you know, andonce in a while I know
Councilman Anthony throws alittle one-liner once in a while
and I always get a kind of youknow, I'm used by that.
So I think that you knowthere's, there's a place for it.
(41:43):
So and but, but I don't plan on.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
To me, my job as a comedian is to be funny.
To me, my job as a city councilmember wouldn't be to be funny.
It'd be to represent the bestinterests and trusts of the
people of Burbank.
So I mean, you know, I'll befunny, hopefully on accident and
not on purpose.
My main goal here is to be assincere as possible, and I do
find and I'm reading that out ofyou.
Speaker 3 (42:06):
I read the fact you are sincere about this.
This is not.
You're not doing this as a joke, no, and I just don't do things
.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
I take my comedy career very seriously.
Like you know, the jokes andthe things I write, no matter
how silly they come out, itmeans everything to me when I'm
working on them.
I know that sounds a littlehighfalutin, but it's true and
this would be similar.
I just don't, uh, uh.
I don't do things to make funof them.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
Well, okay, so you know what.
We're all on board, you get thevotes, you're on the council.
What do you want to accomplishnow, in the first year?
What are your goals, what areyour ambitions?
What do you see doing changesor things you can bring in to
make Burbank better?
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Well, so one thing I really want to do is just and
this was the main reason Idecided to run is that I just
want to build optimism andconfidence in our institutions.
You know I have young peoplewho follow me who pay attention
to what I do in my comedy and Ijust, overall I've just seen in
the 10 years I've been going tocity council meetings, just
cynicism rising and I've seenpeople just kind of disconnect
(43:09):
from believing government canmake their lives better and I
just don't think we can have agood society if people don't
believe in those things.
So I want to be reallytransparent about our budget,
about where our revenue is going, and I want to make sure the
community is fully plugged intoall the choices we're making.
I don't want there to be anysubterfuge or any kind of like.
(43:30):
You know when something's 10pages when it could be one.
I want to make sure that peoplefeel like they're being
communicated to honestly.
And then, on the more policyside, I think housing is our
biggest issue.
I just want to bring down themedian price for a house.
I want to get people who arerenting owning so cause that's
another issue, especially in mydemographic.
I have a lot of friends whowork really, really hard can't
(43:52):
afford a house and they're beingforced to leave California
Maybe not forced, but they feellike they are to go get another
place and I want to make surepeople feel rooted in the
community, cause I think there'sa lot of that that ties into
the first thing, that thatbuilds optimism towards our
society overall.
So it's it's finding what theright policies are to help the
supply side of housing and tobring down the overall costs of
(44:14):
more people are living withoutfear and feel like they can move
on to the other parts of theirlife that they'd like to attend
to.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
Well said, I mean, I respect the fact that it's easy
to sit there on the other sideand criticize, but then, you
know, what are you going to doabout it?
Well, I'm going to try to dosomething about it.
I'm going to make that.
You know, I'm going to takethat leap.
I'm going to try this thingabout it.
I'm going to make that.
You know, I'm going to takethat leap.
Instead of being critical, I'mgoing to be the one who yeah,
you come to me now and I makethe decisions.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
Yeah, thank you.
That is what it was for me too,is I just want to have skin in
the game and I don't want to.
Speaker 3 (44:52):
I think you know a lot of people are talking, but I
always do one thing at the endI think is very important and I
let the candidate you know.
Your camera is here, I let youlook in the camera and I want
you to make your case to theBurbank people of why they
should vote for you for citycouncil.
So it's your.
Take as much time as you needtake as much time as you need.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
Hello, my name is John Parr and I'm running for
city council in the city ofBurbank.
The reason I think you shouldvote for me is that I think for
any leadership group, thereneeds to be a diverse array of
opinions, sensibilities andideologies.
I think what I'll bring to thetable is someone who's not a
political professional, someonewho doesn't have aspirations to
move beyond the job I'm runningfor.
I just want to do a good jobfor the people I'm representing.
(45:38):
I'm not doing it for money,notoriety or for any kind of
upward mobility.
I just want to represent yourthoughts, feelings and
aspirations, and I don't carewhat ideology it is that gets it
done.
I just want to get it done andbe practical.
Speaker 3 (45:58):
Fantastic.
Well, you know what?
Once again, I love doing theseshows because I do not know most
times who the people are on thefirst time people are running
for office and to get to knowpeople I think is a fantastic
thing and I think people reallyget to know who you are and what
you're about and what you bringto the table.
So thank you very much forcoming in.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
Thank you for having me and thank you for doing this
program overall, I think it's agreat help to everyone in
Burbank.
Speaker 3 (46:24):
I appreciate that also.
Okay, well, for John Parr, thisis Craig Sherwood saying.
Thank you very much forlistening.
I appreciate it.
We will have more Meet theCandidate episodes coming up, so
look for them as they come up.
And, uh, thank you very muchfor listening, you idiots.
(46:46):
No, uh, dude, I always havesimilar thoughts, it's funny,
you fools.
I better, I better stop allthis right, that's.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
I think that's natural.
I think anyone who's uh talksinto a microphone understands
that feeling.
Speaker 3 (47:01):
Yeah, I mean, it's you know, even when I'm doing my
stand-up.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
We do like audience Q&A again and sometimes they'll
ask me questions and I'm like isthat really the questions you
have to ask you?
Speaker 3 (47:11):
walk on the stage and say suckers.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
MyBurbankcom would like to thank all of our
sponsors and subscribers fortheir continued support To keep
up with everything MyBurbank hasto offer.
Please follow us on Instagram,at MyBurbankNews, and on YouTube
at MyBurbank.
This has been a production ofMyBurbankTalks presented by
MyBurbank.
My name is John Parr and I'm running for city council
.
Listen to what I have to sayabout my background and my
visions for the future in thisedition of Meet the Candidate.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
My Burbank Talks presents another episode of Meet
the Candidate, the show wherewe invite anyone appearing on
the Burbank ballot in the 2024election to join us here and
give our listeners a chance tolearn about their background and
the issues important to them.
Now let's join our podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Hello, Burbank, Craig Sherwood here with you once
again for another edition ofMeet the Candidate, and today we
have a city council candidate,John Parr, with us, who's going
to talk about us and about hisbackground and what's he going
to do to become elected and foryou to get to know him, which is
the most important thing.
So let me give you a littlebackground on John here.
(00:46):
John is a professional comedicactivist and a writer who has
spent the last decade of hiscareer using his comedy to bring
attention to important issuesof the day.
He and his comedy partner havebrought their comedic activist
message from local city halls tocable news programs and daytime
and late-night talk shows.
(01:07):
And now to why Burbank Talksmeets the candidate.
Of course, John is a native ofSouthern California, born and
raised in San Juan Capistrano,so he may have seen a lot of
swallows, I guess, in his day.
He credits his childhood frombeing raised by a Colombian
immigrant mother and anenterprising father who created
a strong work ethic to drive andmake an impact in his life.
(01:29):
He graduated from LMU with adegree in screenwriting and
moved to Burbank in 2022, wherehe and his spouse are raising
their 13-month-old twins.
Holy cow, if that alone isn'tenough for anybody.
Two, Two 13-month-old twins,Holy cow.
If that alone isn't enough foranybody two, Two 13-month-old
twins, We'll ask him in a secondhow much he gets to sleep at
(01:50):
night.
John is running for city councilbecause he wants to make
politics a party.
That's interesting.
He has seen voter cynicism growto record highs over recent
years and he wants to makepolitics and government
something people not onlybelieve in but find fun and
exciting too.
He wants to bring new people tothe government, to the
(02:12):
government party, by bringing asense of realness and honesty to
politics, and reignite thedemocratic spark in people who
have grown disenchanted withgovernment.
Oh, I think this will be a veryinteresting podcast.
I think this will be a veryinteresting podcast and I think
this will be very informative.
John, how are you doing?
I'm doing well.
How are you?
Things are good, Things arereal good.
(02:33):
Let's get back.
You know we read the bio hereso people understand the
background a little bit.
But let's get, let's start back.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
You know where did you grow up San Juan Capistrano
in Orange County.
For how long I was there in SanJuan, from 8 to 18.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Okay, so not bad.
No, it was a good run.
You probably had a lot of thebeach life back then and all
that.
And what did you do for funback then?
What is fun to do besideswatching the?
Speaker 1 (03:01):
swallows.
We see it's actually theswallows don't fly there anymore
.
I mean they, we keep up theswallows parade because it's
such a big part of the culture,but I think they actually land
in tustin now and have for thepast 40 years, but we're still
getting a bit of a stolen uh,avion valor on it you know, I'm
sure the local chamber ofcommerce is putting on the
events for to raise money foreverybody to come out there and
(03:23):
watch them and maybe releasesome fake type things.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
It's a big people, yeah that's pretty funny.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I didn't I didn't realize that, but it's a great
place to grow up and I did go tothe beach a lot.
I always enjoyed playing beachvolleyball and body surfing and
all the uh different things youcan do in the water how do you
find san juan capistrano similarto Burbank?
It is similar, actually it hasthe same kind of a.
(03:51):
It doesn't feel too corporate,there's a lot of small business
there and the community feelswarm when you go around the town
.
There's real personality there.
It feels rooted in history andyou don't feel like, uh, it came
out of a box so it has a smalltown feel to it for sure burbank
(04:11):
does.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
The population there's offhand, I think it's
like 35 000.
Okay, we're about 100 000 here,so about three times as large
yeah, probably about the samearea, though I think probably
we're like 17 square miles hereabout the same.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
there a lot of hillsides, a hillsides, a lot of
open horse grounds and whatnot.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Okay, Interesting, so okay.
So after high school you wenton to college at LMU.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
It was just the cutest route to get to college.
Oh well, let's talk about that.
I went to Costa Rica for a year.
I taught English to kids there,lived with British guys who
were doing their gap year.
I don't think I was the bestteacher, but I had a lot of fun
hanging out with the peoplethere and the kids there.
We coached them in soccer aswell.
I wasn't the best player, but Ibrought up a lot of enthusiasm
(04:57):
to the pitch.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
I think that's part of what our life experiences are
, though, is doing things maybeout of your comfort zone, maybe
you know a totally differentplace and atmosphere, and what
did you?
When you're done with Costa,Rica.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
what are your memories of Costa Rica?
Now, you know it's cliche, butprobably the Pura Vida of it.
That's like their popularsalutation.
It means pure life.
But they kind of embody that.
They're like a very warm andlike uh, I don't know engaging
and fun, like kind of culture.
And I also got to know theBritish guys well too and they
brought a lot of their kind ofuh humor and and banter to it.
(05:37):
So probably just getting out ofmy orange County bubble and
just seeing how the rest of theworld was and and kind of
finding my own footing as anadult outside of like my
familiar surroundings.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I think that's great.
I think it's it's important tohave those kinds of life
experiences.
So we spent a year in CostaRica.
Now we come back and go to LMUafter that.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Oh no, Junior college .
Okay, I did, I did my roundsthere and you know, actually I
bounced around from a few but alot of my best experiences were
at junior college.
I felt like my most.
That's when my intellectualcuriosity really kicked in and I
really got into reading and artand just kind of trying to
build my brain, and I had a lotof good teachers who kind of
(06:23):
encouraged that in me, which Istill remember fondly.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
I think JUCOs get a bad rap in the sense that you
know out of high school well,you're going to go to college.
Well, I'm going to go to, youknow, valley College and they're
going oh, valley, where are yougoing?
Well, I'm going to go to USC.
Well, the core classes areexactly the same those first two
years, no matter what schoolyou go to.
And let's face it, economically, two years at SC compared to
(06:51):
two years at Valley College is ahuge, huge financial difference
.
Experience Well, you know whatyou transfer to the USC, you
transfer to the LMU, youtransfer to those colleges and
when you get a degree, it saysLMU, it doesn't say LMU via
Valley College.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
I didn't even have to tell you yeah, yeah, right.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
So I think the JUCOs get a really bad rap in it.
I think it's a greatalternative for people and
economically it's feasible and Ithink it's you know.
So I don't think it's any kindof stigmatism at all when people
go to junior colleges.
I think it's actually a verysmart thing to do.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, I loved it and I really tried to bring like
enthusiasm to it, because I feltlike there was a lack of school
spirit and I wanted people tofeel like even though you know
we were all kind of hoping to gosomewhere else that we
appreciated the time we hadthere.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I think people don't kind of think about this, but
you get out of anything what youput into it.
If you go with a negativeattitude, you're going to get
probably a negative experience.
If you go there and embrace,the experience probably a lot
different.
So did you have any activitiesyou did?
Which JC did you go to?
I went to a lot Once again.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Once again, you stuck with it, though oh, totally,
and actually I bounced aroundcoast.
I went to new york and I wentto borough of manhattan
community college sorry, I knowthat's a, I'm charting a big map
right now but that was probablymy favorite one that I went to,
because it was such aninternational school, there was
people from everywhere, and so Iended up becoming a comedian
and that was probably the firsttime where I realized, oh, I'm
(08:26):
making people from ghana laugh,I'm making people from china
laugh, like maybe I'm not justfunny to my bros in orange
county, maybe I got somethinghere, and so it was uh, I'm so
grateful for just the uh, thecultural like uh mesh I got to
be a part of once.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Once again, our experiences is what does you
know if you don't get out ofOrange County and go to New York
?
You don't do those things.
Are you the man you are today?
That's always a lot ofquestions.
I mean, do you think thatreally has helped make who you
are?
Oh, 100%.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, Just even being on the subway and being around
all those different people andjust be nose to nose with people
at six 30 in the morning andeveryone's just tired and wants
to be anywhere else, you can'tavoid the the humanity of it all
, Like you're in it and it makesyou you know there's a vitality
to it that I really love.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Excellent, so okay, now we finally did make it to
LMU.
Yes, you get to get two yearsstraight at LMU.
Yes, and why?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
screenwriting.
I've always just been obsessedwith, uh, art and film
specifically.
Like in high school I wasalways reading books about
cinema raging bulls and easyrider, easy riders and raging
bulls and rebels on the back lotand all of Roger Ebert's books
about the great movies, and andI just found Roger Ebert, who's
one of my heroes he had a greatquote about film that it's a
vehicle for empathy, and Ialways found that to be true.
(09:46):
Every time I watched movies itwas like I was learning about
all these different people,people that weren't like me,
people who had different sexualorientations, different national
pride, different desires, andit connected me to them in a way
that just contributed to a moreopen-minded worldview.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
That's excellent.
That's that's excellent when umI I think that you know, if you
make to the burbank citycouncil, you know we have one of
our council members now who's alittle bit of a comedian, also,
constant anthony.
I've been talking to him, greatguy, a background, so we can
have a lot of levity if you're,if you do get elected.
So two years at lmu, got ascreenwriting degree what was
(10:26):
next?
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I started working in a production.
I started working at a podcastcompany called Earwolf.
That was a mostly comedypodcast and that's when that
industry was first.
Like I was going to say, howlong ago was that?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
probably 11 years ago , so that's when podcasting was
it was just starting.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
It was a brand new thing, but it was starting to
get like.
I kind of had a dog whistle earfor comedy and I knew they were
doing a lot of really cool,interesting stuff over there and
but I was there when it startedto grow and I was the assistant
to the CEO and I got to watchhim kind of design the business
around it, which was reallyexciting.
I became a PA at another reallycool comedy company called
(11:03):
Abso-lutely.
That's over in Glendale, and Iworked there for about four
years and moved up intolocations, which was a really
exciting job as well andactually kind of paralleled the
political work I'm doing now,where you had to go door to door
and just ask people hey, can Irent your house for a shoot?
And so I'm comfortable going upto strangers and talking to
them about.
You know my ambitions forsomething.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Yeah, well, I think if it's important to you, you
don't have a problem dealingwith people you know and you're
confident in yourself.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
If you've got a mission, I think you can
accomplish a lot.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
It kind of bolsters you up, yeah, but that's also
confidence too, and it's alsosomething that's really
important, you know, is dealingwith people.
Thank you, that's kind.
So we went to.
We've done that for a while,and now how long?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
have you been married ?
So we're not officially marriedyet.
I call her my wife and we'regoing to get married soon.
How long have you been togetherfor?
We've been together for threeyears, okay.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
And let's talk about those 13 month old twins.
Was that an expected situation?
Number one having a baby.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Number two having two of those babies well, we
certainly wanted to have a child.
The fact that it was twins wassuper surprising and probably
the biggest shock of both of ourlives.
But now in retrospect, wewouldn't do it any other way.
It's such a gift to watch theminteract and just laugh like
I'll just come home sometimes.
And they're just laughingtogether for what I surmise is
no reason.
But they might have some secretlanguage that's, like you know,
(12:24):
very well developed and they'rejust laughing together for what
I surmise is no reason.
But they might have some secretlanguage that's very well
developed and they're justcracking up and I don't know.
We got a boy and a girl too, soit feels like I don't know,
something really is looking outfor us and gave us the best
possible outcome.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
That's outstanding.
Are you sleeping at night,though?
Speaker 1 (12:43):
We're lucky.
We actually managed to getthrough the first couple months
and, um, we had a good protocolfor their sleep, and now they're
sleeping seven to seven.
I'm almost wary to say that,though, because other parents
are struggling with them and Idon't want them to get upset
that we kind of got lucky withit and get a nice chunk of sleep
ourselves well, let's kind ofbring us up to the present.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Here we've got the kids and uh, the significant
other at home and all thosethings and uh.
So what are you doing now?
What?
What occupies your time rightnow?
Speaker 1 (13:13):
so I'm a comedian, so I tour.
I'm uh leaving on a september14th, I'm going to uh do a
couple gigs in toronto and thenI'm doing uh some tour dates in
New York.
So me and my partner, chad,who's my, we're a duo.
We do touring for standup andthen we've we also had a
television series that wecreated for Netflix called Chad
and JT go deep, which was builtaround our comedic activism,
(13:36):
which is something we've beendoing for almost a decade now,
and a lot of it actually takesplace at city council meetings.
So we first kind of gained alittle bit of notoriety by going
to city council meetings andadvocating for our political
causes, speaking from theperspective of like an oc bro,
which was like a a statue forpaul walker to unite the nation
or protecting house parties indowntown la, and uh we kind of
(13:58):
built a whole uh ideology aroundthat stuff and this now is
currently on net.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I mean you find it on Netflix somewhere If you do the
old search and all that.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yeah, if you look for chatting JT, go deep, it's on
there.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Really Okay.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Yeah, boost that viewer count.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
I'm going, absolutely I'm going to check it out.
I had never seen it on there,but you know I don't really
watch Star Wars.
Let me think here.
Well, you know, I mean Star.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Wars is pretty great.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
I don't watch that ticket personally, but anyhow,
okay, so well, that's going totake you kind of away from
Burbank during, you know, kindof the electioneering season
here.
Yeah, it's going to be tough.
Are you going to be able tospend much time here to get
involved with groups andorganizations and do all the
stuff that you have to do, kindof to?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
get to know people.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, I mean, I like doing stuff.
I don't like to be idle, so youknow I'm.
I try to pack my day with asmuch stuff as possible and I get
energy from it.
I'm very extroverted, so themore I do, the better I feel.
I'm only gone two weekends outof the month, so it's not as
strenuous of touring as someother guys do, so I think I'll
(15:07):
have plenty of time.
We're building out the calendarright now for campaigning, and
I'm still going to be doorknocking and calling, and we've
got a good team around me too tohelp me when I am gone.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
So I feel like I'll be able to do all the things I
want to do.
Well, you know city council.
At times it does crack me up.
The other night we had a citycouncil meeting and they spent
three hours on deciding how theycan make council meetings
shorter.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
I heard you talking about this and, as someone who's
been going to city councilmeetings for a decade, I
definitely think we could speedthe process up a bit.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Well, there's no doubt we can.
In fact, one is having moremeetings, so you're not there
until so late.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I think that's a great idea, because most places
do two meetings a month, I mean,you know, doing three a month.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Yeah we have to do two a month by city ordinance,
but why not do three a month?
They used to do three a monthyears ago and then they kind of
stopped doing that.
But I just thought it washilarious that they spent three
hours to figure out how toshorten a meeting, you know, and
they changed policies that werechanged about 10 years ago,
that were changed about 10 yearsbefore that.
So it's kind of a so, you know,sometimes, you know, city
(16:08):
council meetings are hilariousif you know how to find the
comedy in them, for sure.
So well, and speaking of comedy, what is your routine that you
do when you go to you're on theroad, you go to a comedy club.
What's the routine you guys cando?
Is it about politics?
Is it about, you know, popculture?
What's it?
(16:29):
What do you kind of talk about?
Speaker 1 (16:31):
I would say my standup is slightly different
than what I do at city councilmeetings.
At the city council meetingsI'm a bit more spaced out, I'm a
bit more like in my bro kind ofvoice, my bro vernacular.
When I do stand up, it's morepersonal, it's more
autobiographical.
You know, I I'm trying to do,uh, something that's in line
with what my heroes did, likerichard pryor or, um, um, mark
(16:55):
maron, just more straightforward, not quite confessional, but
more personally rooted stand up,okay.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
That's.
I'm sure that there's a great.
You know, I think intelligentcomedy has a real place in our
society.
You know, you can only get slapslapstick so long you know the
pie in the face, whatever it'sgoing to be, I don't work so
well.
I think people want to bechallenged and entertained at
the same time, which is a toughmix.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Yeah, it is, and some you know you can go too far
with challenging people and notyou know these people pay to
come to a show, they pay to beentertained.
So you need to do that job.
You need to make sure theyleave feeling good about the
experience but at the same time,you want it to be something
substantive and to actuallyengage with people in an
authentic way.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
So I'm always trying to balance that out.
People always say, when you'rea comedian, that you can read
the room immediately and youknow if you're, if you got them.
If you don't, what do you dowhen you don't have them?
Speaker 1 (17:47):
You power through, you sweat a little bit and you
just uh act as if you'recrushing, and then you know.
What also helps is taking asmall moment to say, hey, I know
I'm not doing great, and thatlets them know that you at least
see what's happening and thatengenders some trust.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
That's good.
Yeah, that would probably work.
Well, let's move on to Burbank.
Here, here we are.
So you spent two years here.
We're going to have some thingscoming up here which you know,
if you're going to get on thecouncil you have to deal with.
One is rent control.
So you have to deal with.
One is rent control.
Now do you have any feelings onand it's a very complicated
(18:26):
subject, because I really seehow landlords look at this,
especially your small mom andpop ones compared to your
corporate ones.
But I also see how the rentersand the way the renters are
nowadays.
So I think both sides havegreat points.
So how do you come down on thatwhole thing?
Speaker 1 (18:44):
It's such a complicated subject and I'm
still working my way through it.
I talk to people every day,especially over the last month
just trying to get a bettergrasp on it and I think Burbank
has a high population of renters60%, which is above the
national average and a lot ofpeople are month to month, month
to month and they're dealingwith, like housing insecurity.
So raising rents on people likethat is immoral.
But then you know, I talked topeople on the development side
(19:07):
and I understand that you knowthey need to.
We need to boost up the housingsupply so we can bring down the
median price of houses inBurbank, which is
extraordinarily high.
It's like 1.2 million.
You know a place like Charlottewhere they're less restrictive
with their housing developments,like 450,000.
So how do we boost up thehousing supply so prices come
down overall and so we have lessrenters and more homeownership.
(19:27):
I think the council is doing agood job and they have some
aggressive, you know,progressive platforms that are
well articulated, but I don'tknow if anyone's quite found the
right answer that's actuallygoing to solve the problem.
Well, that is the right answer.
That's actually going to solvethe problem.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Well, that's the, that's the.
That is the problem that wehave five people who are
supposed to solve that problem.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
So we'll see how that works out.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
It is Absolutely, and there's times that you are not
going to make friends.
I'm okay with that.
Okay, you?
Speaker 1 (19:58):
know what it is.
I very.
I love being close to people,but I also don't think conflict
or disagreement necessarilymeans that you have to think ill
of the other person.
I sometimes think that conflictand disagreement can actually
make you closer to other people,especially if you're being
honest in what you're saying.
So I kind of look forward todisagreeing with people.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
And that's part of it , and I think that the problem
in our country is we aren'twilling to listen to the other
side.
I had a last week.
I went to an event and therewere a couple of police
commissioners there and I'vebeen very critical of the police
commission and they both cameand we started to talk and we
listened to each other and itwas a great conversation, just
listening to each other, and Ididn't back away from what my
(20:42):
points were, and I didn't backaway from you know, because what
I say is what I believe, but Ialso listened to their points of
view too, and I understoodwhere they're coming from.
So I think we need more of thatinstead of being divisive all
the time.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Yeah, there's a vilification of other people.
That I think is not helpful,because if you're talking to
someone and you're looking atthem like they're you know, like
they have bad intentions orlike they're not a good person,
that really short circuits theconversation, and I think in
most instances we all want tosee a better community.
We just have different valuesthat guide us to our choices, so
(21:17):
I try to always be mindful ofwhere someone's coming from and
thinking that that's a positiveplace.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Absolutely.
Let's move on to another topicNow.
We did a show last week calledum ask the mayor, and we did the
entire show on a Burbank busand it was.
It was an outstanding show inmy opinion.
Of course, everyone one of myshows is a stand outstanding
show.
That was the one with DaveChristie.
Yes, absolutely, and you had achance to listen to it I did.
(21:45):
Okay, thank you for listening.
So transportation is a hugeissue in Burbank, whether it be
pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycles, electric vehicles and, of
course, regular vehicles.
And I've been always criticalof the Burbank bus system
(22:05):
because it's so limited in whatit does.
It doesn't serve the Hillcommunity whatsoever.
So, how do you?
What are your visions?
I mean, are you happy with whatwe have now or, if not, how
would you change it?
How would you modify it?
Because I think transportationis in the future.
It's.
How would you modify it?
You know, because I thinktransportation is in the future,
it's going to be very importantin our society.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Absolutely.
I think one thing that is mostimportant to me right now is
just pedestrian safety.
Especially having two youngchildren, I just want to make
sure we're driving in a safe wayand that maybe we can reduce
speed limits on service streetsso that because if you look at
the numbers, like if an accidenthappens under 25, the risk of
mortality goes downexponentially.
(22:45):
So I think that's somethingthat we can do immediately.
That is pretty agreeableoverall.
I think the chandler bike pathcould you explain more on why
that has been such a big successin your estimation?
Speaker 3 (22:53):
well, number one it was.
It was very controversial whenthey first put it in 20 years
ago and a lot of residents didnot want it.
The success to it is you dohave a lot of people with
mobility, with bicycles andeverything else, and this gives
us a lane from North Hollywoodand the Red Line all the way to
the Burbank Center and, ofcourse, now it follows all the
(23:15):
way into LA.
I think the goal was to go fromthe valley to the beach on a
bicycle, although I could neverdo that.
It's hard for me just to get onmy own bicycle.
But I think what that hasbecome is not only that, but for
people walking, walking theirdogs and being People in the
(23:35):
community all get together onthat bike path.
All the different aspects ofthe community go there and walk
it and talk with each other andit's become a real.
It's good for the connectivity,absolutely so.
I think that's where the youknow, that's where it has become
.
But that's not how it started.
So I think it was kind offorced down people's throats.
(23:55):
They didn't like it and nowthey're saying this is the
greatest thing ever, right?
You know how it is.
The NIMBYs were all like it andnow they're saying this is the
greatest thing ever, right?
Yeah, how it is.
The nimbys were all after it.
And now the nimbys are sayingoh, no, no, don't change the
thing.
Now we love this thing, youknow.
Now it's perfect, now we'redone.
So um, um, are you much of abicycle person or anything?
Speaker 1 (24:12):
I'm not well, but I do think it's more ideal than
driving.
Yes, that's true, I mean it'sbetter for the environment.
It's better for the environment, it's better for your health
and it's better, I think, likefor you're saying, for community
connectivity.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
What about electric vehicles and all that?
Because we're going electriccar and one of the things I'm
worried about is is that doesour infrastructure, are they
able to support?
All of a sudden, everybody getsan electric vehicle.
Well, that's a lot ofelectricity we need to generate
all of a sudden, and a lot ofyou know and our power bills are
going to.
Then, yeah, you save money ongas.
Well, now you're paying onelectricity.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
I mean, I do agree with you, I think.
But it's similar to the otherthing you were talking about.
We're like short term, we'renot going to like it in short
term, there's going to be issues.
But that comes up with me to bea better path forward.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
I think so.
Now of course, in Burbank wehave outlawed electric scooters
and the companies who rent them.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So this is complicated for me because in my
comedic activism I have been ahuge supporter of electric
scooters and I've gave a speechat the West Hollywood City
Council, speech at the WestHollywood city council begging
them to not ban electricscooters.
But as as the real me, I haveto say I think we're better off
(25:30):
not having them in Burbank, justbecause I think they create so
much detritus in the city andthere's such a health hazard
with injury and with impactingother people that I I I'm not
sure in every community isdifferent, but for Burbank and
for the lifestyle that mostpeople enjoy here, I don't think
they would be additive.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yeah, it's funny.
We're about a block from theborder here in North Hollywood
and I go up to the corner atClydebourne and as I drive down
Clydebourne I see scooterslittered all around Clydebourne
because their GPSs don't letthem come into Burbank.
Yeah, they shut down.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
So they shut down?
Speaker 3 (26:02):
I see them all on the border here and it just kind of
cracks me up a little bit.
Oh, now you're stuck, you'vegot to walk all of a sudden.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Yeah, in Santa Monica it's like it's intermittent.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
So you'll be on one block and it's working.
Then the's a lot of oppositionto him in Santa Monica also,
because people were so upsetthey were taking him and
throwing in the ocean all thetime.
And the companies are saying,okay, once we rent that thing
three times, it's paid foritself.
So we'll just keep making moreand more.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Yeah, it's, it's weird, it's.
I think if there was a betterpolicy in place for the handling
and maintenance of them, Iwould be more supportive of it.
But as of now, where people canjust chuck them and leave them,
it just doesn't feel fair tothe rest of the community.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Here's another one for you Cannabis stores Outlawed
in Burbank.
Can't have a cannabis store inBurbank.
Any thoughts on that?
Speaker 1 (26:53):
I mean, I totally understand where people are
coming from, not wantingcannabis stores in their
neighborhood.
You know, I think Burbank has awholesome sensibility that
should be protected and I do,just overall, sometimes feel
like change should be moreincremental so that people can
adjust to it.
But specifically with thecannabis stores we have liquor
stores, we have vape shops Ithink resistance to weed shops
(27:15):
is somewhat anachronistic and Ithink in time it won't feel like
as big of a leap as it does inthis moment.
So I'm I'm pro allowing weeddispensaries, or cannabis
dispensaries rather, to comeinto burbank, because also the
tax revenue that they'llgenerate will be good for the
city overall and we should betransparent about where that
money goes.
But I think it's uh, I don'tknow, I don't.
(27:36):
I don't think we should besending Burbank money into North
Hollywood or into neighboringcities.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
That's a good point.
Now I don't know if you've beenfollowing We've had a gun shop
thing and I was all for dealingdown to maybe four or five and
that was it.
But they're not doing that.
But they have now set updistricts or locations that gun
storage can now be in, and onlyif a new one comes to town.
There's only a couple verysmall spots they can open in
(28:03):
Burbank and I can see that theycould also do that with cannabis
shops and put those probably inthat same area.
They're not near schools,they're not near playgrounds,
they're not near residentialareas, so that might be a
solution there too.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Yeah, being intentional about where they're
located.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Oh, okay.
Well, let's move on here.
How do you feel about the gunshops?
The gun shops?
Well, I got to be honest withyou.
We were the ones who kind ofbroke the entire story to start
with.
I used to drive down Magnoliaand I used to say look at all
these gun stores.
And then I started looking intoit and I asked the city well,
(28:39):
how many gun stores?
And they sent me a list.
There were 14 dealers inBurbank.
I'm going 14?
There's like one or two in LA.
And why are there 14?
Why are there two shops?
And I understand how cardealerships work.
They put all the cardealerships together because we
walk dealership to dealershipand look at the cars these are
shipping cars, but gun shops.
And so I just thought way toomany.
(29:03):
I'm not against people owning agun, I'm not against.
This is nothing new to theSecond Amendment.
It's just too many.
And then I started looking intoit and found that the gun shops
were breaking state law and notwithin had to be within 500
feet of a school or something.
But there's nothing in the mapthat says it.
By the crow flies or by the.
The Thomas guide shows Right,or Thomas guides the old thing
(29:25):
for, uh, um, google maps in theold days for those who don't
understand, um, so uh, and Istarted a big story on it and
then it started, you know,because we're the meaty capital
of the world.
So I started saying, well, whereelse is now the gun store
capital of the world?
And we actually are.
There was more gun stores in afive-square-mile area of Burbank
than there were anywhere elsein the world.
(29:45):
So that's kind of what got usstarted, and I wanted to see it
capped at five stores.
You know, let the ones that areopen now stay open until, but
when they close, nobody else canopen them until they get down
to five.
But I think, I think once again,you have to listen to other
people and you have to listen toother things, and I'm happy
with how they they came up withit, and so while you can have
(30:10):
more gun stores, they have to bein a certain small area of
Burbank now.
So I'm okay, you know, just getthem off the main boulevards,
get them away from schools andwhere people are.
So that was my thoughts at thetime and I'm not going to put my
thoughts out there too Ofcourse I'm not the one who sits
on that dais and has to makedecisions.
(30:30):
So you say you've been up tocity council and talked.
What are some of the thingsyou've talked about when you've
gone up to speak to the council?
What are some of the issues youbrought up up there?
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Well, so oftentimes it's a comedic point of view and
I'm not necessarily speakingfrom my point of view.
It's this character that I'vekind of created, but the
character's genuine and I thinkfor the character to work I have
to touch on real subjects.
So there's always kind of anunderlying cultural truth that
(31:00):
I'm trying to hit on.
So I've done speeches aboutartificial intelligence and how
we need universal basic incomebecause of the job displacement
that's going to come from it.
But it's all done through likemy bro voice, where I'm like
dude, I don't want to work, I'mglad ai is coming here, so y'all
need to hook it up with somefat stacks so I can chill
without losing my place.
And uh, or um, we'll talk about, um, you know, solitary
confinement in prisons.
We've talked about, you know,last minute rides like
(31:24):
e-scooters.
We've talked about, um,inflation.
So we we tackle real subjectsand we're trying to encourage
real conversation in bothdirections.
But we're just going at it froma comedic perspective.
Okay, that's kind of the sugaron the pill.
I like to think of it as, yeah,and sometimes we need a bit
levity.
We really do, yeah, or like Iused to, um, I've gone on news
(31:47):
programs before as a commentatorand and uh, one uh bit we did
that turned into a genuinemovement.
That I think was actuallyhelpful was, um, the ocean
waters are heating up, as a lotof people know, and that was
causing, um, the destruction ofa lot of coral reef, which is
vital for that ecosystem.
So when coral reef gets heatedup, it bleaches itself, it turns
(32:08):
into kind of a white color andthat means it's uh, you know,
long, no longer uh, prospering,no longer living, no longer
helping.
So we bleached our hair toraise awareness because we were
saying it's at a dome for people.
But now it's on our domes andout of that we directed people
towards different organizationsthat were helping the coral reef
and we got a lot of people topay attention to it.
So you were all in on that one.
(32:30):
Yeah, I thought that was a goodone, and we went on Fox News to
talk about that.
So, and we went on Fox News totalk about that, so I was like
this is a huge opportunity,because this is an audience that
might be against some of thelegislation that's going towards
environmental protections.
But if I can be funny andcharming about this and if I can
treat them like we're the same,even if we don't have the same
viewpoints, I might be able toget someone who might not
otherwise have cared about thisinvolved.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Oh, absolutely.
Well, let's talk.
Let's talk about crime.
Let's talk about crime, let'stalk about police.
What are your feelings onpolice departments?
Are you quote defunding, whichI think is a very bad term?
I think people, instead ofdefunding, they mean to reduce
the officers and increase themental health in a department.
(33:12):
But it's hard to keep ourdepartment where it needs to be
staffed twice because peoplearen't really going to be cops
lately.
Plus, we're going to ourpopulation is going to grow here
substantially when you look atthe 5,000 houses they still have
to put in the next five years,the housing they're building now
.
So well, how do you feel about,you know, police and crime
(33:35):
right now and what's going onwith that whole thing and what
any, any, any uh thing you wantto throw?
Speaker 1 (33:41):
in there on that.
I mean, I certainly understandwhy people were upset towards
the police and there was acouple of, you know, huge
inflection points where I thinkit was.
It was good for our culture toshine a light on it and and hold
police more accountable forwhatever their procedures were
for moments where they wereoverstepping.
But I never was supportive oflike defund the police or some
of the other catchphrases thatbecame popular at the time,
(34:02):
because I just thought it lackednuance and it was somewhat
removed from practicality.
I don't mean that to diminishthe pain and anger that people
were feeling.
I think that was real and thatit was worth prioritizing in
that moment, but I don't thinklong-term it's the best
sustainable plan.
I think we need a strong policeforce.
I think accountability is goodand I think, you know, having a
(34:24):
fair distribution of cityrevenue going to other services
that could help people in needis is helpful.
And I don't think you knowpolice.
I don't think most policeofficers want to be responding
to a lot of the stuff that theyhave to respond to.
I think we want to keep themmore specialized in their job
function.
So, yeah, having more mentalhealth services, having homeless
(34:45):
shelters, things like that.
That can make it easier on thepeople who need it, but also
make it easier on the police whohave to deal with those
problems, is good for everyone.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Well, you touched on it, so we're going there.
Let's talk about the homeless.
It's the latest buzzword inCalifornia, of course, is this
homeless situation.
I saw that I believe it's LongBeach is going in and just
cleaning up the city completelyand the governor wants says, the
funding's there take care ofall these homeless people.
We do have a.
(35:15):
Yeah, I think the homelesspopulation in Burbank is around
120 to 150.
In that area, we have a couplethings that we're working on
here, but what are your thoughtsabout?
You know, what should we do toaid the homeless population here
?
Speaker 1 (35:32):
I think a homeless shelter would be good.
We don't have a designatedhomeless shelter.
I think that a lot ofneighboring cities have ones
that we could probably work inconjunction with and maybe take
some of their infrastructure andbuild a satellite unit out here
.
I think 120 is a manageablenumber.
It's something that we cancorrect and it's something that
I think we can pour personalattention into.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Okay, well, let me ask you this there's a homeless
person on the streets and hegoes.
I don't want your help, I don'twant your, your, your shelter,
I don't want your food.
I just leave me alone.
I want to just be right here onthis sidewalk or under this
bridge or whatever.
What do you do about that?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, I mean that will happen.
I hope you know by and large,statistically, that I mean that
will happen.
I hope you know by and large,statistically, that won't be the
norm and that's more an anomaly, but I think in that case you
know we have to havewell-trained individuals who are
it's their job to go out intothe city and to try to encourage
them to come to the shelter andtry to use the programs that
are available.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
I think you got to.
That's an uphill battle.
Once again, it's like anythingelse.
Think there's.
There's always two sides inamerica.
Can you force somebody to dosomething, you know if they
don't want to do it themselves?
Speaker 1 (36:42):
so it's, it's it is it's it's it's challenging.
But again, like you talkedabout, that's the duty of being
on the council, that's the dutyof leadership is that you have
to make these, you know, uphillbattles seem achievable, and I
think, think it is.
It can certainly be better.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
What about development in Burbank?
You know, how do you, how doyou look at either the small
businesses or corporatedevelopment or what's going on?
You know because that you know,that's our tax base, is where
our money comes from and allthat.
So how do you feel about oursmall businesses and what would
you do to help them, help ourbusiness community?
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Yeah, I think we definitely have to have tax
incentives for smallerbusinesses.
You know places where they haveless than like 10 employees and
we don't want to be taken overby kind of homogenous corporate
interests.
I think attracting outsidepeople to come in and bring
their small businesses here likecutting them, better
protections on buildings and onbusiness development here is is
vital.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
I think it's once again, I think our once again.
I think, like Magnolia Park,we've got to keep the hometown
feel of a Magnolia Park typearea they're talking about, and,
back in the day, transportationand business colliding is this
BRT is coming up, the bus, rapidtransit and they want to, you
(37:58):
know, knock all down to one lane.
And right now our city councilsaid now we don't really want to
do that, but what would do?
How?
How's your, what's your feelingon the brt subject?
I don't know much about it.
Well, I think you're going tobe lucky because I guess you
come up before the councilchanges over, so, but I think
it's going to be an ongoing.
It's going to be lucky becauseI think it's going to come up
before the council change isover, but I think it's going to
(38:19):
be an ongoing event.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
It's going to be an ongoing event, but I am curious,
could you?
We can move on, but if youcould, yeah, real quick.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
The BRT Metro wants to put a bus line through North
Hollywood to Pasadena on thestreets, and one of the things
they wanted to do it would comethrough Burbank and they and one
of the things they wanted to doit would come through Burbank
and they wanted to remove a laneof traffic on Olive and make it
a bus-only lane.
And the solutions were to putthe lane in the middle and then
(38:47):
put a, you know, one lanetraffic, one lane bus, and then,
you know, that was kind of it,you know, because there's a
parking, you know, for parking.
Still, another was to put a buslane and take out the parking,
leave the two lanes for cars.
Now businesses have no way forpeople to park and go into the
business.
They were talking about doinglike they're doing on Hollywood
(39:08):
Boulevard and making it down tothe one lane they have there and
with parking and bike lanes andall that.
So right now the city councilis asking, you know, between
Buena Vista and Lake, not to dothat.
But they are going to do otherparts of this project and we've
kind of agreed to that.
So that's where the contentionis right now.
(39:29):
Plus, they want the metro toimprove the Olive Bridge and be
able to put a station there.
So the buses widen the bridgeand put a bus area and so people
can take the bus and then takethe elevator down to the Metro
station, which they can't do now, which right now the bus had
left them out about a quartermile away from it, which is not,
once again, practical.
So that that's a lot of thingsgoing on with that.
(39:51):
They haven't no decisions havebeen made, but they are we.
They haven't no decisions havebeen made, but they are.
We have a subcommittee workingwith Metro and it's supposed to
come back in a month or two andwe'll see what happens.
But you know, I think that youknow, we talked to the mayor a
little bit and they want proofof concept, which I agree with
(40:17):
you.
Show me you have a bus with 75%full all the time, and I get it
.
But to take a lane of trafficaway from Olive, they're only
talking about about a minute and30 seconds of savings in time.
And so, yeah, you save a minuteand 30 seconds on a bus by
doing that, but now, with onelane, you increase the you know
the wait, maybe 10 minutes in avehicle.
So is that and plus then peoplestart going down the side
streets to avoid all that.
So you know, is that, and plusthen people start going down the
side streets to avoid all that.
(40:38):
So you know, quality of lifeissues and all those things
compared to the future andtransportation, slippery slopes.
But I think there needs to be abetter alternative, such as
take the darn bus down Alamedaand make a left and come up
victory to Olive if you need to.
That might solve that wholeproblem.
But who am I to throw my twocents in?
It sounds valuable.
(40:58):
That's kind of what the BRT andBird Bank, in a nutshell, got
it.
Well, let's see.
Here I think we're getting nearthe end.
I appreciate you coming in andI appreciate your sense of humor
.
I really think we need a senseof humor.
(41:21):
Besides, you know there's timesto always be serious, there's
no doubt.
But we also need a little bitof levity at times too, because
it's not all that bad and allthat serious all the time.
And so I think you know, andonce in a while I know
Councilman Anthony throws alittle one-liner once in a while
and I always get a kind of youknow, I'm used by that.
So I think that you knowthere's, there's a place for it.
(41:43):
So and but, but I don't plan on.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
To me, my job as a comedian is to be funny.
To me, my job as a city councilmember wouldn't be to be funny.
It'd be to represent the bestinterests and trusts of the
people of Burbank.
So I mean, you know, I'll befunny, hopefully on accident and
not on purpose.
My main goal here is to be assincere as possible, and I do
find and I'm reading that out ofyou.
Speaker 3 (42:06):
I read the fact you are sincere about this.
This is not.
You're not doing this as a joke, no, and I just don't do things
.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
I take my comedy career very seriously.
Like you know, the jokes andthe things I write, no matter
how silly they come out, itmeans everything to me when I'm
working on them.
I know that sounds a littlehighfalutin, but it's true and
this would be similar.
I just don't, uh, uh.
I don't do things to make funof them.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
Well, okay, so you know what.
We're all on board, you get thevotes, you're on the council.
What do you want to accomplishnow, in the first year?
What are your goals, what areyour ambitions?
What do you see doing changesor things you can bring in to
make Burbank better?
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Well, so one thing I really want to do is just and
this was the main reason Idecided to run is that I just
want to build optimism andconfidence in our institutions.
You know I have young peoplewho follow me who pay attention
to what I do in my comedy and Ijust, overall I've just seen in
the 10 years I've been going tocity council meetings, just
cynicism rising and I've seenpeople just kind of disconnect
(43:09):
from believing government canmake their lives better and I
just don't think we can have agood society if people don't
believe in those things.
So I want to be reallytransparent about our budget,
about where our revenue is going, and I want to make sure the
community is fully plugged intoall the choices we're making.
I don't want there to be anysubterfuge or any kind of like.
(43:30):
You know when something's 10pages when it could be one.
I want to make sure that peoplefeel like they're being
communicated to honestly.
And then, on the more policyside, I think housing is our
biggest issue.
I just want to bring down themedian price for a house.
I want to get people who arerenting owning so cause that's
another issue, especially in mydemographic.
I have a lot of friends whowork really, really hard can't
(43:52):
afford a house and they're beingforced to leave California
Maybe not forced, but they feellike they are to go get another
place and I want to make surepeople feel rooted in the
community, cause I think there'sa lot of that that ties into
the first thing, that thatbuilds optimism towards our
society overall.
So it's it's finding what theright policies are to help the
supply side of housing and tobring down the overall costs of
(44:14):
more people are living withoutfear and feel like they can move
on to the other parts of theirlife that they'd like to attend
to.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
Well said, I mean, I respect the fact that it's easy
to sit there on the other sideand criticize, but then, you
know, what are you going to doabout it?
Well, I'm going to try to dosomething about it.
I'm going to make that.
You know, I'm going to takethat leap.
I'm going to try this thingabout it.
I'm going to make that.
You know, I'm going to takethat leap.
Instead of being critical, I'mgoing to be the one who yeah,
you come to me now and I makethe decisions.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
Yeah, thank you.
That is what it was for me too,is I just want to have skin in
the game and I don't want to.
Speaker 3 (44:52):
I think you know a lot of people are talking, but I
always do one thing at the endI think is very important and I
let the candidate you know.
Your camera is here, I let youlook in the camera and I want
you to make your case to theBurbank people of why they
should vote for you for citycouncil.
So it's your.
Take as much time as you needtake as much time as you need.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
Hello, my name is John Parr and I'm running for
city council in the city ofBurbank.
The reason I think you shouldvote for me is that I think for
any leadership group, thereneeds to be a diverse array of
opinions, sensibilities andideologies.
I think what I'll bring to thetable is someone who's not a
political professional, someonewho doesn't have aspirations to
move beyond the job I'm runningfor.
I just want to do a good jobfor the people I'm representing.
(45:38):
I'm not doing it for money,notoriety or for any kind of
upward mobility.
I just want to represent yourthoughts, feelings and
aspirations, and I don't carewhat ideology it is that gets it
done.
I just want to get it done andbe practical.
Speaker 3 (45:58):
Fantastic.
Well, you know what?
Once again, I love doing theseshows because I do not know most
times who the people are on thefirst time people are running
for office and to get to knowpeople I think is a fantastic
thing and I think people reallyget to know who you are and what
you're about and what you bringto the table.
So thank you very much forcoming in.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
Thank you for having me and thank you for doing this
program overall, I think it's agreat help to everyone in
Burbank.
Speaker 3 (46:24):
I appreciate that also.
Okay, well, for John Parr, thisis Craig Sherwood saying.
Thank you very much forlistening.
I appreciate it.
We will have more Meet theCandidate episodes coming up, so
look for them as they come up.
And, uh, thank you very muchfor listening, you idiots.
(46:46):
No, uh, dude, I always havesimilar thoughts, it's funny,
you fools.
I better, I better stop allthis right, that's.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
I think that's natural.
I think anyone who's uh talksinto a microphone understands
that feeling.
Speaker 3 (47:01):
Yeah, I mean, it's you know, even when I'm doing my
stand-up.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
We do like audience Q&A again and sometimes they'll
ask me questions and I'm like isthat really the questions you
have to ask you?
Speaker 3 (47:11):
walk on the stage and say suckers.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
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True Crime Tonight
If you eat, sleep, and breathe true crime, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT is serving up your nightly fix. Five nights a week, KT STUDIOS & iHEART RADIO invite listeners to pull up a seat for an unfiltered look at the biggest cases making headlines, celebrity scandals, and the trials everyone is watching. With a mix of expert analysis, hot takes, and listener call-ins, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT goes beyond the headlines to uncover the twists, turns, and unanswered questions that keep us all obsessed—because, at TRUE CRIME TONIGHT, there’s a seat for everyone. Whether breaking down crime scene forensics, scrutinizing serial killers, or debating the most binge-worthy true crime docs, True Crime Tonight is the fresh, fast-paced, and slightly addictive home for true crime lovers.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.