February 23, 2025 • 37 mins
Michael Monks examines how the January 2025 Palisades Fire has forced city officials to reconsider the downtown Convention Center expansion, jeopardizing plans for the 2028 Olympic Games. He then sits down with LA County GOP Chairwoman Roxanne Hogue, who discusses the challenges and opportunities facing over a million registered Republicans in a predominantly Democratic region, emphasizing public safety and good governance. Together, they delve into downtown LA’s paradox of breathtaking high-rises contrasted with chaotic, grimy streets, and wrap up by exploring national influences like President Trump’s return and critiquing the “top two” primary system for limiting minority party representation.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
This is Michael Monk's Reports. I'm Michael Monks.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Big Saturday night shout out to the kids at Verdugo
Hills High School into Hunga. They won the LA Unified
School District's forty fourth annual Academic to Cathlon Today. Forty
seven schools participated in this year's to Kathlon, where students
were honored with medals, trophies, and scholarships. Was held at
(00:34):
East LA College in Monterey Park earlier today. Verdugo Hills
High School will now advance to the California Academic to
Kathlon in March. Good luck to you and congratulations again.
You may have heard us talking a bit about rats
at the end of the last hour and the big
explosion of the rat population in Los Angeles. We are
(00:56):
now the number two rattiest city in America, behind only Chicago.
And you also heard me talk to Raul Cortez, or
technical director here on this program.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
He says that he had some rats crawl up into.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
The innerds of his car and destroy some windshield wife
These rats terrorize him so much he moved to a
different neighborhood. Well, we got some advice from one of
our listeners who picked up the iHeartRadio app, clicked on
that talkback button and sent us this message.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Hey listener, here, this message is for the rat problem.
Mechanic told me to take some Bounce dryer sheets and
tie about four or five of them or six of
them underneath your hood to some of the rings around
there underneath the hood, and then'll keep the rats from
chewing your wiring.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
How about that Raoul some dryer sheets? He specifically said Bounce. Now,
I don't know if he's getting compensation from that.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Is that that brand? Can you use some snuggle? I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
But I also don't know if I can wrap myself
in Bounce dryer sheets when I'm walking around the parking
lots to keep them away from me. But I do
appreciate that advice. If you've got rat advice, or if
you've got some commentary on the state of Los Angeles
or any of the any reflection on the interview I
did last hour about the eviction moratorium quasi moratorium for
(02:10):
folks who were impacted by the fires but don't live
in those areas iHeartRadio app. Click on the talkback button
and we will play some more of those at the
end of this hour.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
We are with you until nine o'clock.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And so, somehow, in the midst of all of the
chaos that is Los Angeles, we are expected to host
the world in just a few short years for the
twenty twenty eight Summer Olympics. This is the third time
LA has hosted the Summer Games. Nineteen thirty two, nineteen
eighty four, those were the other times. It's a big
(02:41):
deal to get to host the Olympics. You've got to
be a special place to do it twice. You got
to be elite to do it three times. London has
done it three times, and now Paris has done it
three times. LA will be the third with a three
peat in twenty twenty eight, unless, of course, there is
(03:04):
some way, some maybe typically LA way, that we screw
this up. And you know, with all of the chaos
at LA City Halls since the beginning of this year,
I want to know, are you optimistic? Do you have
any suspicions about whether this is going to happen?
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Will we have.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Enough money, will we have enough resources? I mean, what
do you think so, Just to recap this city was
already facing serious financial challenges even before the wildfires. The
city controller himself said the city was going broke. We
(03:47):
have squabbling between the city and the county over the
future of their shared Homeless Services authority, and all the
millions and millions of dollars that have been invested in
that with what return. And now, of course the fires
and the Palisades and Altadena and estimates of damage is
there well into the billions of dollars.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
So now.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Here we are a city in the midst of a
natural disaster and maybe a little bit of a political
or a governance crisis. Is that dramatic to say? Mayor
Bas says, it's not chaos. Mari Bas says, it's not upheaval.
But the city of la is already backtracking on one
(04:34):
of its quasi goals for the Olympics. I say quasi
because this wasn't officially a goal. This was something they
were exploring to see if maybe it could become a goal,
and now it looks like the answer is no. The
Los Angeles Convention Center downtown is slated to be a
(04:58):
venue for the summer Olympic in twenty twenty eight. It's
supposed to host wrestling, fencing, judo, table tennis, and taekwondo.
But the convention center is a little old, and downtown
boosters have long complained that it needs to be rehabbed,
(05:20):
it needs to be expanded, it needs to be cleaned up,
it needs to be modernized, and the city apparently, I mean,
I don't know if you're involved in the convention business
or if you've ever planned a convention for your industry,
but it can be very competitive, and LA's convention center
loses out. According to some of these folks who spoke
(05:43):
at meetings last year that I watched, they lose out
to smaller cities. So LA itself is not a big
enough draw because it's convention center isn't enough to snuff.
So late last year, as I was covering these meetings
at city Hall, the city iministrator Matt Zabo came up
with this proposal for some council committees to consider, and
(06:05):
then the full council took it up. Let's explore a
one point four billion dollar revitalization project, but let's start
with feasibility and timing. So here's what the deal was.
We can't screw with the Olympics. Those are coming up
(06:32):
in twenty twenty eight, and if we've got ourselves a
construction zone, we're going to make some athletes very angry.
Do you want to see a bunch of angry table
tennis guys in downtown La wondering why there's no place
for them to play ping pong? I don't, and neither
did Matt Zabo, And so that's why when this presentation came,
(06:55):
the timing was very specific.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
We have.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
A long way to go and a short time to
get there, as the song goes, So we can't begin
to do this unless we know for certain it will
be finished in time for ping pong. So the city
council voted late last year to spend up to fifty
(07:25):
four million dollars already on some early work, get some
designs going, let's figure out what the timing really looks like,
and let's see if we can get this going and
then come back to us with a definitive timetable to
see if we are willing to take this risk with
one of our coveted venues. So, if you're wondering what's
(07:51):
come of that fifty four million dollars.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
The work was done, these abilities and design work.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
They've spent it. It's been spent fifty four million dollars.
The La Times Is reported in recent weeks that, yeah,
that fifty four million dollars has been spent. Don't worry
about that. Boy, can we get that money spent? But
the project appears to be dead for now. It seems
the wildfires have claimed that one point four billion dollar
(08:23):
dream as well, because City Administrator Matt Zaebo says it's
not clear now that it would be done in time,
and this city staff that would be needed to oversee
that kind of thing will already have their hands full
with rebuilding the palisades, right, I mean, who are we
talking about here, Engineers and public works people. Those are
(08:48):
the types of people you would need on site if
we're rebuilding the convention center to the tune of one
point four billion dollars. But then the palisades burned down
in the La city limits and so they're going to
be busy with that. So Matt and Zabo, the city administrator,
has told a city committee city council committee that he
(09:09):
is recommending a pause on this project. So that's bad
news for the people from downtown. I saw a lot
of hotel operators and nearby businesses, restaurants, those types of
folks who were really excited about the prospect of luring
more conventions here. Like this was not just about table tennis,
This was not about having a prettier place for taekwon do.
(09:31):
This was about a long term investment, spending some money
that the city confesses it doesn't have. They were going
to do some creative borrowing, I suppose, and they thought
that they were going to be able to generate enough
revenue to pay it off according to all those presentations,
in spite of the city's financial situation. But now the
city is recommending a pause on the expansion of the
(09:52):
downtown convention Center. It's just too much of a risk
to have that site via construction zone. And when we
have the Olympics coming in twenty twenty eight, wrestling, fencing, judo,
table tennis, and taekwondo all set to be right there
at that convention center. So that's a no for now,
(10:12):
but we will continue to monitor that situation because look,
they spent fifty four million dollars just to reach a
conclusion that may have seemed obvious to others that know,
you cannot do a one point four billion dollar project
in the city of Los Angeles with that time frame.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
It's just not possible.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I don't think, based on what I've learned from people
in the wake of these wildfires, I don't think you
could put a deck on the back of your house
in four years in Los Angeles's permitting process. How are
we going to spend a one point four billion dollars
to rehab the Convention Center in time for the Olympics.
(10:59):
So the judo we'll go on in the crusty old
convention Center that we all know and love.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Now.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Anyways, speaking of governance in Los Angeles and Los Angeles County,
you probably have noticed that there are a lot of
Democrats who run the show around here. The new chairwoman
of the La County Republican Party wants to see that change, obviously,
but she thinks she might know how that can happen,
and she joins us. Next, this is Michael Monks Reports
(11:27):
on KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports, on Michael Monks with you
un til nine o'clock tonight. The LA City Council has
fifteen members, fourteen of them are Democrats, one is an independent.
Four of the five members of the LA County Board
of Supervisors are Democrats, with one Republican. The local Congressional
Delegation Assembly seats county offices. Democrats dominate, but the Los
(11:58):
Angeles County Republican Party has a new chairwoman, and she's
optimistic about the future of the party and hopes to
gain ground, maybe riding a wave with President Trump. Roxanne Hogue,
the new chair is our guest, Roxanne Hope, thanks so
much for being with us.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
You know, I spent a lot of time at LA
City Hall. I spent a lot of time at the
LA County Board of Supervisors. And I'm not I know,
I'm watching the meetings here. I don't see a lot
of Republicans.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Well, not in the City of La. We do have
Catherine Barger. She is the sane lady on what I
call the view, which is the Board of Supervisors for
nutballs and one Normy, and she is a registered Republican.
We have Republicans actually, represented throughout La County the other
eighty seven cities.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Who is the star of the La County Republicans right now?
Where is the hope in some of the people holding
office or aspiring to office carrying that banner right now?
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Well, the structure of a party is often this sort
of unsung like if you're looking at a duck and
a below the surface, there's these little legs just just
moving along. So I'm part of the little legs that
are moving along underneath the surface. We have Susette Valaderis
is our state senator here, Tom Lackey is about to
be turned out, and we have a piece of j
(13:16):
Oberonotti's district. But we are in the best position in
about three decades because Angelina's up and down the county
are looking around going this is what I pay for?
Speaker 1 (13:26):
What the heck?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I just spoke with the Senator Valaduris this week about
utility cost and that seems like an area the Republicans
are looking to gain traction on because people across California
are looking at how much they're spending and wondering what
they're getting for that.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
And that's true locally as well. On a variety of issues.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
What is the message from Republicans in this county that
have not been successful in recent elections. What is the
message now as you look to gain traction.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Well, part of that came from Top two, which was
an absolute debacle of an un American destruction of the
prime system, brought to us by Republican Argol Fortzenegger. Where
we stand now, our message is very clear, and it's
been clear. We are the party of public safety and
good governance. You get neither from the entrenched Democrats.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
When you say the top two, you mean the primary
system where everybody runs in the primary and the top
two advance, and often it's two Democrats.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
Well, it's a jungle primary, and it's called that for
the reason that it decimates smaller minority parties. You don't
get to choose who represents you. By the way, that
stands not only for Republicans, but for the Greens, for
the Libertarians. I mean, they are actually recognized parties within
(14:39):
the country and they should have a say on who
their candidates are.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
There are ten million people crammed into this county. How
many are Republicans?
Speaker 5 (14:47):
So there are one and a bit registered Republicans, so
over a million.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Yeah, no, not just me.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
They're over a million registered Republicans in LA County, more
registered Republicans than any other co in the entire United States.
We have more Republicans in La County than forty complete
states have. That's because California is a population center.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Now.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
The truth is the same for Democrats, right, and they
do outnumber us for now.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
So that's a mathematical situation because yeah, there's a million
Republicans here, there are ten million people, so you're looking
to increase those ranks. Do you see the return of
President Trump to the White House as.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
A positive for your efforts locally?
Speaker 5 (15:30):
I think the return of President Trump is a positive
for American citizens. I became a US citizen in two
thousand and To have the administrative state clawed back, to
have the economy come back, to have America perspected in
the world again, that's good for everybody where we stand politically,
it's great he's doing that. He gave a talking to
(15:52):
Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom when he came to town
after the fires. But we have to make our own
fortunes here in Los Angeles, and local issues matter.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
What do you do about a local message compared to
what that national message is from Trump, especially on issues
like immigration. Of course, you're going to find people here
in La County completely in lockstep with the President's position.
But this is also a county with a lot of
immigrants and a lot of illegal immigrants and people that
are sympathetic to that because of the impact that they
do have on the economy here. So let's take that
(16:25):
as an example. What does the La County GOP have
to say about illegal immigration in La County?
Speaker 5 (16:31):
We're pretty clear, and not just because I'm an immigrant
and a legal one myself. We have our city council
that makes such a big deal about being a sanctuary.
The sanctuary is for felonious criminal aliens, not just people
who broke the law by entering the country illegally or
overstaying their visas. They're giving sanctuary to people who are
(16:52):
you know, do UIs, People suspected of strong armed robbery,
horrible crimes nobody wants in their community, least of immigrants
of any kind.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I come from Kentucky, and that is a state that
has the opposite political situation that you're facing here in
La County. The GOP dominates the state. There's a democratic
governor with a super majority for Republicans in the legislature.
A lot of the county governments are run by Republicans.
As a journalist, I spoke to Democrats a lot like, Oh,
we're working on it. You know, we're trying to craft
a message. There's more of us here than you think,
(17:24):
and it doesn't seem to work out. How are you
measuring success now that you're the chairperson of this party.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
I think the situation is different in Kentucky because we're
good at management. It would be very hard to break
into that as a blue candidate in an area where
there's no garbage on the streets and no humans dying
on the streets, and you can actually get a permit
to build a bathroom in your home within a year.
That's not the case in Los Angeles. And what we're seeing,
(17:51):
especially after the fires, is people looking around and saying,
wait a second, we are paying five star taxes. We
are not even getting one star service. It is a
disaster what we pay for versus what we get here
in Los Angeles. And so our message continues to be
about public safety, because you know, the definition of a
conservative is a liberal who's been mugged and since we
(18:14):
have Gavin and Karen and Lindsay Horvev and the other
ladies of the view making sure that lots of us
are getting mugged on the regular, they're doing our work
for us.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
So how will Republicans craft a message for an urban
audience when nationally it's so dominant in rural areas. La
County GOP Chairwoman Roxanne Hogue will continue with us.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Next.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks with You
till nine o'clock tonight. The La County GOP is on
the move, saying it's ready to make some gains in
this democratic stronghold. Let's continue with the party's new chairwoman,
Roxanne Hogue. Roxane, I live downtown, and people hear me
talk about downtown a lot, because I love Downtown on Elbow.
(19:01):
But I don't think I'm even editorializing by just observing
that it's dirty, and even as a guy, I have
to say it's scary at times.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
Public transportation in Los Angeles is a roving mental hospital. Sadly,
a lot of immigrants and people trying to get places
are stuck in.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Well, here's the thing, and this is what I want
to ask you, because I do love public transportation, and
I think this system, the metro system, when I look
at it on paper like that's great. And there aren't
a lot of cities that are making the investments in train,
subways and that sort of thing. Let's not talk about
the California High Speed rail project today, but let's talk
about the subways. There are cities all over the country
that would die to invest in what this subway system
(19:43):
is doing.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
And then you write it and you think it stinks.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
There's a scary guy on it, and I could die,
and there are people who have died on it. On
the other hand, I don't hear a lot of Republicans
talk favorably about investments in public transportation at all. So
how can you, as an urb he's a Republican square
that yes it's problematic, it's challenge, but yes, we also
need it.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
You can't have both that you've heard it when if
you've ever done how it's construction. You can have it
quick and fast or fast and well done, but you
can't have all three things. Just like you cannot have
a welfare state with open borders, you cannot have public
transportations and defund the police because the only way public
transportation works, and it should I mean rebuilt it. It's there,
(20:31):
but people have to be able to take it. The
last time I took two of my kids and the
friend to Pushing Square to skate in the ice rink
at Christmas, it was horrifying. I was responsible for someone
else's child and I was like, how do I get
to a hospital if he breaks his leg? We have
to integrate good governance of the systems we have because
we're in a one party rule where that party is
(20:55):
not as good at their jobs as they should be,
and they're completely owned by public sector unions. It's an
impossible situation.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
That ice skating experience on Pershing Square is so beautiful.
This is the height of downtown because it is cordoned off.
You have the lights on the trees and Pershing Square
and it's a cool part of downtown because you're low
and surrounded by tall buildings and it's very romantic and
when you look at it from certain angles any time
of the year, that spot it's gorgeous. Off and tell
(21:25):
people downtown La is gorgeous when you're looking up.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
That's true because I spend a lot of time in
the fashion market and in the flower mart. I love
that urban street level stuff. But the California Democrat Party
runs this city into the ground, so that on the
ground of all of La is the detritus of human
remains and feces and you know, raw chicken and urine.
(21:52):
It's horrible, completely unconsortably. LaGuardia said, there's no Democrat or
Republican way to clean the streets, but here in California's
specifically in La the Democrats have proved there is a
Democrat way to screw it all up.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
That's what I wanted to ask about because what I find,
and again I'm being specific to La City. I know
we're thinking more broadly county wide, but La City the
economic engine of the entire Southern California region. The debates
tend to be between a leftist, maybe a democratic socialist
not necessarily mainstream, and somebody from the trade maybe liberal
(22:25):
left Democrats classically right, yeah, yeah, but that's the battle
you end up seeing. We should get the RVs off
the streets, we should clean up. We need to turn
the street lights back on and stop the people from
stealing it. And those are Democrats saying that. And then
we just saw in the most recent election that Democrat
lose Kevin de le On to someone more aligned with
the Democratic Socialist.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
And they make no mistake, he's incompetent, but I voted
for him.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
The Republicans have to choose him, right, I chose So
where's your team at in those races?
Speaker 5 (22:54):
We have to make the math better. Right. My appeal
to everybody who says why am I leaving an assesspool
and paying through the nose for it is take a
step to the right. If you're a registered Democrat on register,
stop giving them your allegiance. They're screwing up our city
and our county and state. You can vote however you want,
but you don't have to give them the voter registration numbers.
(23:15):
If you're an NPP, you're declined to state voter. Consider
becoming a Republican again. We have open primaries. It's all irrelevant,
but it'll make it easier for Republican candidates to find you.
And most importantly, if you're not registered to vote at all,
I'm begging you register now, because when sane, competent people
(23:36):
see the math start to change. When Democrat numbers start
to dip and Republican registration gets within twenty points of
Democrat registration, we win. Why because half of those MVPs
are ours, but also because we can govern properly. So
we have to make the math attractive enough so that
when someone like a Rick Caruso, a lifelong Republican, considers
(23:58):
running for mayor, which is a nonpartisan race, and his
Democrat consultant says, what you need to do is, you know,
reregister as a Democrat, which was irrelevant and just made
him look inauthentic, he will say, no, the math supports
me staying as I am or even being NPP. Because
we need people who have something to lose to run.
(24:19):
We need business owners, we need people who've been affected
by the fires and Pacific palisades in Altadena and Pasadena
to come to me. And by the way, on March eighth,
I'll have an event where people can talk about how
do we get into leadership positions. Come talk to us
because we need and by the way, the Democrat Party
of Los Angeles needs us because they're trying to push
(24:41):
back on the DSA. They don't want to be socialists.
Our mayor's a Marxist, but they don't all want that.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Speaking of for Caruso, he's taken a high profile role
post wildfires.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
I have I'm going to interrupt.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
Yeah, everyone keeps saying wildfires. We don't have a wildfire
problem in Pacific Palisades. In Altadena we had a drug addicted,
meth addict, homeless encampment. Maybe mention of arson fire problem.
Our fires are whipped up by the winds. But LAFD
has been battling homeless fires for fifty percent or more
(25:21):
of the fires that they face for a decade.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Well, I know a lot of us are waiting for
confirmation on the origin of those fires, but there are
plenty of reports of fires started by homeless camps in
the wild and just the numbers.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
By the way in the city. You can see it yourself.
I have film on Twitter of myself coming across an
underpass fire and going down there to see if anybody
was passed out in their tent.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
How political will the wildfires be. We're already getting glimpses
of that. But could there be inroads made by Republicans
based on the local government's response. We'll continue with La
County GOP Chairwoman Roxanne Hogue.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Next.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on DEMANDAM six.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Or forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. This is
Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks will finish up now
with a new chairwoman of the La County GOP, Roxane Hogue.
What do you think these devastating fires due to the
political landscape of La County? Because I feel like even
observing the democratic City Council and the La County Board
(26:23):
of Supervisors, there seems to be a shift in what
people are willing to say to each other as elected officials.
There's more challenging of positions going on. And we watched
Mayor Bass fire the fire chief, and she was only
flanked by a few members of city council, not the
entire council, So we might see some internal squabbling from
(26:43):
the people who already exist in office. Do you think
that there is an opportunity here? I don't want to
characterize it as building on tragedy, of course, but does
this offer an opportunity for people to reassess the politics
and governance of this region therefore, offering an opening to
an alternative.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
Absolutely does because there is an awakening of people to
the fact that most of us live normal lives and
don't want to think about politics, right I want to
follow the NBA or what's going on with hockey and
my favorite Netflix show. When you realize that your betters,
your elites, your leaders are woefully lacking, it does cause
(27:19):
a shift. We had it in COVID to realize that
the Ward of Supervisors runs this public health department that
is that fake doctor is the head of and now
my kids can't go to school for two years. That
was shocking, but humans, being humans, we forget and then
we go okay, moving on, and then the fires happen
and you go, wait a second. You had one hundred
(27:42):
and seventeen a million gallon reservoir that you kept empty
in a fire zone. You went to Ghana when everybody knew.
Everybody knew that there was going to be high wind warnings,
and we know what happens in high wind warnings. So
it is really opening people's eyes to the reality that
the people we thought had our best injured to heart,
(28:04):
they're dumb. They're dumb as dirt and there's a little
Malfi's and thrown in there as well.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Give me the three issues that you see. Maybe next
year it's an election year. Next year it's a mayoral
election year. There gonn be city council seats supervisors.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
And then in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
We'll be electing our first county wide executive, the county mayor.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
I guess we could call it loosely.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
What are the top three issues that you see where
Republicans can do their proverbial pounts.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
Well, the top three issues where we live are corruption, crime,
and crime. It's affecting all of us. The money spent
on LA Homeless Services Authority, for example, we could have
given each of those people on the streets their own
personal psychiatrists to help them into sobriety, which is what
(28:52):
they need, not a house. The corruption is off the charts,
by the way, Mayor Bass firing the fire chief, who
was worse? Either of them is good. I don't pick
either one to win that fight. The crime is a
very real thing. People who worked really hard to have
nice places and nice businesses and nice homes are living
in fear. I don't know if you've seen there's a
(29:13):
new service in La. It's like Uber with their back
and heat and then just the grime. Why can't I
take my kids to the library. Why can't I walk
down the street and not have to, you know, dip
my shoes and bleach afterwards. So they've failed completely at
the three things you should expect from city and county governance.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Roxanne Hogue, la County Republican Party chairperson, thanks for coming
to Burbank and chatting with us here at KFI.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
We do appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
So there's Roxanne Hogue, the chairperson of the La County
Republican Party. She's got high hopes for Republicans in this
Democratic dominated area and we'll see how it goes. It
is an election year next year and we're going to
be covering it, so we'll keep an eye on all
of that for you for sure. Now, we obviously have
some turmoil at La City Hall and there will likely
(30:05):
be political fallout. There will be people who see opportunities
and I've been talking about this since the wildfires. That
just as a reporter, as someone who observes city officials
and county officials, and as I noted in that interview
with Roxanne, Hogue. There does appear to be a shift.
You are seeing members of both of those governing bodies
(30:25):
start to challenge each other more, perhaps in ways that
I hadn't observed before. I think that the wildfires that
have happened here in La County have caused a political shift.
It is realigning priorities. It's forcing the folks to reassess
what is important, what matters. And this is such a
(30:48):
catastrophic disaster. I've said this before on our weekly show
here on Saturdays, that we haven't even really had time
yet to grieve what has been lost. We haven't even
had a full assessment of what the damage is. The
city itself isn't completely sure. They are giving updated numbers
every couple of weeks on their own financial losses, whether
(31:09):
it be parks, road infrastructure, street lights, those sorts of things.
The numbers have grown. We don't know what we've lost yet,
and we don't know what's going to be rebuilt or
how it's going to be rebuilt. So this is going
to be the biggest test either of these governments, the
city or the county, have ever faced. And so what
(31:33):
we are tasked with as members of the media and
what you are tasked with as members of the public
is watching closely and determining who the leaders are. Are
you seeing leadership right now at city Hall? Maybe in
some corners, maybe you don't think so in others. Same
at the County building, maybe you're pleased, maybe you're not.
(31:54):
I know, the week after the fires really raged and
we went live on the air and took phone calls
here from a lot of people who were upset about
the politicization of the fires, but they're happy with their
elected officials. And then we heard calls from others who
were ready to fire everybody. So we're going to keep
an eye on that. I'll tell you what I will
(32:17):
be watching for next week at La City halls, whether
anything comes of the firing of La Fire Chief Kristen
Crowley by Mayor Aaron Bass. We have already heard from
City council Member Monica Rodriguez that she's not happy about it.
But we also saw while Mayor Bass was firing the chief,
four members of city council with her. Now, if the
(32:39):
council exercises exercises its power to overturn that decision, it
would require ten votes. If you've got four people standing
behind the mayor. While that happens, of a fifteen member body,
you could only afford to lose one more, you would
need the other ten to be unified. So I don't
know that the math is there, but I would be
curious of out whether a debate takes place at all.
(33:03):
So that's what I'm keeping an eye on in local
government next week, and we'll be reporting on if anything
comes of that, and at the Board of Supervisors, we'll
see if they move forward on what we talked about
in our first hour here tonight, that rent protection for
people who lost their income because of the fires. We're
not talking about people necessarily who lost their homes in
the Palisades or Alta Dina, but people who might have
(33:25):
worked at a store or at a home there and
no longer have their income and now may be faced
with eviction. So the county is looking at creating a
ten million dollar fund to possibly help those folks and
keep landlords off their back. So we'll be watching for
that as well. You heard our guest in the first
Now we're talking about how that may be bad news
(33:47):
for landlords, and it may be bad news for the
rest of us as well, because it could impact the
price of housing. Overall, local government sure is fun and
I do love covering it for you here. Another advantage
of living in Los Angeles, of course, is our proximity
to the entertainment industry. There's no place like it. Everybody
in the world watches what we put out, and it
(34:09):
is a wards season. We've got the Oscars in a
couple of weeks, but tomorrow is the Screen Actors' Guild Awards,
and I regret I didn't vote. You know, those of
us in local media, in most outlets, the radio and
the television stations were members of sag AFTRA. Now we
are the less glamorous Aftra of sag Aftra, but we
(34:31):
are members of the union and we do have the
right to vote, and I miss my chance.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
I guess I could have voted.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Up until yesterday, I haven't seen anything, so I would
have felt weird doing that. But they, you know, they
give you the access to watch everything and assess everything,
and so that's pretty cool. But that'll be happening tomorrow
night and the SAG Awards will air at five o'clock
here locally, and that is something I really love about
being in the West Coast. Now, after spending my entire
life in the Eastern time zone. Is how early national
(35:00):
events are out here.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
It's perfect.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Five o'clock start to this, and I guess the Oscars
will probably start at five o'clock here as well. You know,
when you're in the Eastern time zone, as most of
Kentucky is where I lived, the Oscars would end like
after eleven o'clock. And that's late the Super Bowl too,
I mean, forget about it. Super Bowl Sunday Monday morning
is a drag because it's so late. But here, oh,
(35:26):
it's just perfect. And I will say, as a college
basketball guy, naturally being from Kentucky, when the NCAA Men's
basketball tournament starts in March, you know they usually have
the big tip off at noons, the first game noon Eastern.
Here you're giving me basketball, the best of basketball at
(35:48):
nine o'clock in the morning. Oh, thank you. In spite
of all of the problems here in Los Angeles, we've
got pretty good weather and we've got early start times
for major American events, and for that I am grateful.
And I'm also grateful to all of you for listening
(36:09):
to us here tonight on KFI AM six forty. I
am Michael Monks. This is Michael Monks Reports. Follow me
on social media at Mike Monks LA. That's m I
C m O nks LA, Instagram, Twitter, whatever. Look me
up there and I'd be happy to engage with you.
Send me tips, send me comments, and you can also
catch me doing the news all week long here at KFI.
(36:31):
On Monday, I'm filling in for Amy King Bright and
Early doing wake Up Call and anchoring the news throughout
Bill Handle's show and the start of Gary and Shannon
as well, so I'll look forward to talking to you there.
So for our producer Matthew Toffler and our technical director
Raoul Cortes, I'm Michael Monks. We will talk again soon.
Thanks for listening to us here on KFI AM six
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Forty, KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
This is Michael Monk's Reports. I'm Michael Monks.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Big Saturday night shout out to the kids at Verdugo
Hills High School into Hunga. They won the LA Unified
School District's forty fourth annual Academic to Cathlon Today. Forty
seven schools participated in this year's to Kathlon, where students
were honored with medals, trophies, and scholarships. Was held at
(00:34):
East LA College in Monterey Park earlier today. Verdugo Hills
High School will now advance to the California Academic to
Kathlon in March. Good luck to you and congratulations again.
You may have heard us talking a bit about rats
at the end of the last hour and the big
explosion of the rat population in Los Angeles. We are
(00:56):
now the number two rattiest city in America, behind only Chicago.
And you also heard me talk to Raul Cortez, or
technical director here on this program.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
He says that he had some rats crawl up into.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
The innerds of his car and destroy some windshield wife
These rats terrorize him so much he moved to a
different neighborhood. Well, we got some advice from one of
our listeners who picked up the iHeartRadio app, clicked on
that talkback button and sent us this message.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Hey listener, here, this message is for the rat problem.
Mechanic told me to take some Bounce dryer sheets and
tie about four or five of them or six of
them underneath your hood to some of the rings around
there underneath the hood, and then'll keep the rats from
chewing your wiring.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
How about that Raoul some dryer sheets? He specifically said Bounce. Now,
I don't know if he's getting compensation from that.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Is that that brand? Can you use some snuggle? I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
But I also don't know if I can wrap myself
in Bounce dryer sheets when I'm walking around the parking
lots to keep them away from me. But I do
appreciate that advice. If you've got rat advice, or if
you've got some commentary on the state of Los Angeles
or any of the any reflection on the interview I
did last hour about the eviction moratorium quasi moratorium for
(02:10):
folks who were impacted by the fires but don't live
in those areas iHeartRadio app. Click on the talkback button
and we will play some more of those at the
end of this hour.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
We are with you until nine o'clock.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And so, somehow, in the midst of all of the
chaos that is Los Angeles, we are expected to host
the world in just a few short years for the
twenty twenty eight Summer Olympics. This is the third time
LA has hosted the Summer Games. Nineteen thirty two, nineteen
eighty four, those were the other times. It's a big
(02:41):
deal to get to host the Olympics. You've got to
be a special place to do it twice. You got
to be elite to do it three times. London has
done it three times, and now Paris has done it
three times. LA will be the third with a three
peat in twenty twenty eight, unless, of course, there is
(03:04):
some way, some maybe typically LA way, that we screw
this up. And you know, with all of the chaos
at LA City Halls since the beginning of this year,
I want to know, are you optimistic? Do you have
any suspicions about whether this is going to happen?
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Will we have.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Enough money, will we have enough resources? I mean, what
do you think so, Just to recap this city was
already facing serious financial challenges even before the wildfires. The
city controller himself said the city was going broke. We
(03:47):
have squabbling between the city and the county over the
future of their shared Homeless Services authority, and all the
millions and millions of dollars that have been invested in
that with what return. And now, of course the fires
and the Palisades and Altadena and estimates of damage is
there well into the billions of dollars.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
So now.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Here we are a city in the midst of a
natural disaster and maybe a little bit of a political
or a governance crisis. Is that dramatic to say? Mayor
Bas says, it's not chaos. Mari Bas says, it's not upheaval.
But the city of la is already backtracking on one
(04:34):
of its quasi goals for the Olympics. I say quasi
because this wasn't officially a goal. This was something they
were exploring to see if maybe it could become a goal,
and now it looks like the answer is no. The
Los Angeles Convention Center downtown is slated to be a
(04:58):
venue for the summer Olympic in twenty twenty eight. It's
supposed to host wrestling, fencing, judo, table tennis, and taekwondo.
But the convention center is a little old, and downtown
boosters have long complained that it needs to be rehabbed,
(05:20):
it needs to be expanded, it needs to be cleaned up,
it needs to be modernized, and the city apparently, I mean,
I don't know if you're involved in the convention business
or if you've ever planned a convention for your industry,
but it can be very competitive, and LA's convention center
loses out. According to some of these folks who spoke
(05:43):
at meetings last year that I watched, they lose out
to smaller cities. So LA itself is not a big
enough draw because it's convention center isn't enough to snuff.
So late last year, as I was covering these meetings
at city Hall, the city iministrator Matt Zabo came up
with this proposal for some council committees to consider, and
(06:05):
then the full council took it up. Let's explore a
one point four billion dollar revitalization project, but let's start
with feasibility and timing. So here's what the deal was.
We can't screw with the Olympics. Those are coming up
(06:32):
in twenty twenty eight, and if we've got ourselves a
construction zone, we're going to make some athletes very angry.
Do you want to see a bunch of angry table
tennis guys in downtown La wondering why there's no place
for them to play ping pong? I don't, and neither
did Matt Zabo, And so that's why when this presentation came,
(06:55):
the timing was very specific.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
We have.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
A long way to go and a short time to
get there, as the song goes, So we can't begin
to do this unless we know for certain it will
be finished in time for ping pong. So the city
council voted late last year to spend up to fifty
(07:25):
four million dollars already on some early work, get some
designs going, let's figure out what the timing really looks like,
and let's see if we can get this going and
then come back to us with a definitive timetable to
see if we are willing to take this risk with
one of our coveted venues. So, if you're wondering what's
(07:51):
come of that fifty four million dollars.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
The work was done, these abilities and design work.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
They've spent it. It's been spent fifty four million dollars.
The La Times Is reported in recent weeks that, yeah,
that fifty four million dollars has been spent. Don't worry
about that. Boy, can we get that money spent? But
the project appears to be dead for now. It seems
the wildfires have claimed that one point four billion dollar
(08:23):
dream as well, because City Administrator Matt Zaebo says it's
not clear now that it would be done in time,
and this city staff that would be needed to oversee
that kind of thing will already have their hands full
with rebuilding the palisades, right, I mean, who are we
talking about here, Engineers and public works people. Those are
(08:48):
the types of people you would need on site if
we're rebuilding the convention center to the tune of one
point four billion dollars. But then the palisades burned down
in the La city limits and so they're going to
be busy with that. So Matt and Zabo, the city administrator,
has told a city committee city council committee that he
(09:09):
is recommending a pause on this project. So that's bad
news for the people from downtown. I saw a lot
of hotel operators and nearby businesses, restaurants, those types of
folks who were really excited about the prospect of luring
more conventions here. Like this was not just about table tennis,
This was not about having a prettier place for taekwon do.
(09:31):
This was about a long term investment, spending some money
that the city confesses it doesn't have. They were going
to do some creative borrowing, I suppose, and they thought
that they were going to be able to generate enough
revenue to pay it off according to all those presentations,
in spite of the city's financial situation. But now the
city is recommending a pause on the expansion of the
(09:52):
downtown convention Center. It's just too much of a risk
to have that site via construction zone. And when we
have the Olympics coming in twenty twenty eight, wrestling, fencing, judo,
table tennis, and taekwondo all set to be right there
at that convention center. So that's a no for now,
(10:12):
but we will continue to monitor that situation because look,
they spent fifty four million dollars just to reach a
conclusion that may have seemed obvious to others that know,
you cannot do a one point four billion dollar project
in the city of Los Angeles with that time frame.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
It's just not possible.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I don't think, based on what I've learned from people
in the wake of these wildfires, I don't think you
could put a deck on the back of your house
in four years in Los Angeles's permitting process. How are
we going to spend a one point four billion dollars
to rehab the Convention Center in time for the Olympics.
(10:59):
So the judo we'll go on in the crusty old
convention Center that we all know and love.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Now.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Anyways, speaking of governance in Los Angeles and Los Angeles County,
you probably have noticed that there are a lot of
Democrats who run the show around here. The new chairwoman
of the La County Republican Party wants to see that change, obviously,
but she thinks she might know how that can happen,
and she joins us. Next, this is Michael Monks Reports
(11:27):
on KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports, on Michael Monks with you
un til nine o'clock tonight. The LA City Council has
fifteen members, fourteen of them are Democrats, one is an independent.
Four of the five members of the LA County Board
of Supervisors are Democrats, with one Republican. The local Congressional
Delegation Assembly seats county offices. Democrats dominate, but the Los
(11:58):
Angeles County Republican Party has a new chairwoman, and she's
optimistic about the future of the party and hopes to
gain ground, maybe riding a wave with President Trump. Roxanne Hogue,
the new chair is our guest, Roxanne Hope, thanks so
much for being with us.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
You know, I spent a lot of time at LA
City Hall. I spent a lot of time at the
LA County Board of Supervisors. And I'm not I know,
I'm watching the meetings here. I don't see a lot
of Republicans.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Well, not in the City of La. We do have
Catherine Barger. She is the sane lady on what I
call the view, which is the Board of Supervisors for
nutballs and one Normy, and she is a registered Republican.
We have Republicans actually, represented throughout La County the other
eighty seven cities.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Who is the star of the La County Republicans right now?
Where is the hope in some of the people holding
office or aspiring to office carrying that banner right now?
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Well, the structure of a party is often this sort
of unsung like if you're looking at a duck and
a below the surface, there's these little legs just just
moving along. So I'm part of the little legs that
are moving along underneath the surface. We have Susette Valaderis
is our state senator here, Tom Lackey is about to
be turned out, and we have a piece of j
(13:16):
Oberonotti's district. But we are in the best position in
about three decades because Angelina's up and down the county
are looking around going this is what I pay for?
Speaker 1 (13:26):
What the heck?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I just spoke with the Senator Valaduris this week about
utility cost and that seems like an area the Republicans
are looking to gain traction on because people across California
are looking at how much they're spending and wondering what
they're getting for that.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
And that's true locally as well. On a variety of issues.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
What is the message from Republicans in this county that
have not been successful in recent elections. What is the
message now as you look to gain traction.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Well, part of that came from Top two, which was
an absolute debacle of an un American destruction of the
prime system, brought to us by Republican Argol Fortzenegger. Where
we stand now, our message is very clear, and it's
been clear. We are the party of public safety and
good governance. You get neither from the entrenched Democrats.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
When you say the top two, you mean the primary
system where everybody runs in the primary and the top
two advance, and often it's two Democrats.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
Well, it's a jungle primary, and it's called that for
the reason that it decimates smaller minority parties. You don't
get to choose who represents you. By the way, that
stands not only for Republicans, but for the Greens, for
the Libertarians. I mean, they are actually recognized parties within
(14:39):
the country and they should have a say on who
their candidates are.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
There are ten million people crammed into this county. How
many are Republicans?
Speaker 5 (14:47):
So there are one and a bit registered Republicans, so
over a million.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Yeah, no, not just me.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
They're over a million registered Republicans in LA County, more
registered Republicans than any other co in the entire United States.
We have more Republicans in La County than forty complete
states have. That's because California is a population center.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Now.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
The truth is the same for Democrats, right, and they
do outnumber us for now.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
So that's a mathematical situation because yeah, there's a million
Republicans here, there are ten million people, so you're looking
to increase those ranks. Do you see the return of
President Trump to the White House as.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
A positive for your efforts locally?
Speaker 5 (15:30):
I think the return of President Trump is a positive
for American citizens. I became a US citizen in two
thousand and To have the administrative state clawed back, to
have the economy come back, to have America perspected in
the world again, that's good for everybody where we stand politically,
it's great he's doing that. He gave a talking to
(15:52):
Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom when he came to town
after the fires. But we have to make our own
fortunes here in Los Angeles, and local issues matter.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
What do you do about a local message compared to
what that national message is from Trump, especially on issues
like immigration. Of course, you're going to find people here
in La County completely in lockstep with the President's position.
But this is also a county with a lot of
immigrants and a lot of illegal immigrants and people that
are sympathetic to that because of the impact that they
do have on the economy here. So let's take that
(16:25):
as an example. What does the La County GOP have
to say about illegal immigration in La County?
Speaker 5 (16:31):
We're pretty clear, and not just because I'm an immigrant
and a legal one myself. We have our city council
that makes such a big deal about being a sanctuary.
The sanctuary is for felonious criminal aliens, not just people
who broke the law by entering the country illegally or
overstaying their visas. They're giving sanctuary to people who are
(16:52):
you know, do UIs, People suspected of strong armed robbery,
horrible crimes nobody wants in their community, least of immigrants
of any kind.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I come from Kentucky, and that is a state that
has the opposite political situation that you're facing here in
La County. The GOP dominates the state. There's a democratic
governor with a super majority for Republicans in the legislature.
A lot of the county governments are run by Republicans.
As a journalist, I spoke to Democrats a lot like, Oh,
we're working on it. You know, we're trying to craft
a message. There's more of us here than you think,
(17:24):
and it doesn't seem to work out. How are you
measuring success now that you're the chairperson of this party.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
I think the situation is different in Kentucky because we're
good at management. It would be very hard to break
into that as a blue candidate in an area where
there's no garbage on the streets and no humans dying
on the streets, and you can actually get a permit
to build a bathroom in your home within a year.
That's not the case in Los Angeles. And what we're seeing,
(17:51):
especially after the fires, is people looking around and saying,
wait a second, we are paying five star taxes. We
are not even getting one star service. It is a
disaster what we pay for versus what we get here
in Los Angeles. And so our message continues to be
about public safety, because you know, the definition of a
conservative is a liberal who's been mugged and since we
(18:14):
have Gavin and Karen and Lindsay Horvev and the other
ladies of the view making sure that lots of us
are getting mugged on the regular, they're doing our work
for us.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
So how will Republicans craft a message for an urban
audience when nationally it's so dominant in rural areas. La
County GOP Chairwoman Roxanne Hogue will continue with us.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Next.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks with You
till nine o'clock tonight. The La County GOP is on
the move, saying it's ready to make some gains in
this democratic stronghold. Let's continue with the party's new chairwoman,
Roxanne Hogue. Roxane, I live downtown, and people hear me
talk about downtown a lot, because I love Downtown on Elbow.
(19:01):
But I don't think I'm even editorializing by just observing
that it's dirty, and even as a guy, I have
to say it's scary at times.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
Public transportation in Los Angeles is a roving mental hospital. Sadly,
a lot of immigrants and people trying to get places
are stuck in.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Well, here's the thing, and this is what I want
to ask you, because I do love public transportation, and
I think this system, the metro system, when I look
at it on paper like that's great. And there aren't
a lot of cities that are making the investments in train,
subways and that sort of thing. Let's not talk about
the California High Speed rail project today, but let's talk
about the subways. There are cities all over the country
that would die to invest in what this subway system
(19:43):
is doing.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
And then you write it and you think it stinks.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
There's a scary guy on it, and I could die,
and there are people who have died on it. On
the other hand, I don't hear a lot of Republicans
talk favorably about investments in public transportation at all. So
how can you, as an urb he's a Republican square
that yes it's problematic, it's challenge, but yes, we also
need it.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
You can't have both that you've heard it when if
you've ever done how it's construction. You can have it
quick and fast or fast and well done, but you
can't have all three things. Just like you cannot have
a welfare state with open borders, you cannot have public
transportations and defund the police because the only way public
transportation works, and it should I mean rebuilt it. It's there,
(20:31):
but people have to be able to take it. The
last time I took two of my kids and the
friend to Pushing Square to skate in the ice rink
at Christmas, it was horrifying. I was responsible for someone
else's child and I was like, how do I get
to a hospital if he breaks his leg? We have
to integrate good governance of the systems we have because
we're in a one party rule where that party is
(20:55):
not as good at their jobs as they should be,
and they're completely owned by public sector unions. It's an
impossible situation.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
That ice skating experience on Pershing Square is so beautiful.
This is the height of downtown because it is cordoned off.
You have the lights on the trees and Pershing Square
and it's a cool part of downtown because you're low
and surrounded by tall buildings and it's very romantic and
when you look at it from certain angles any time
of the year, that spot it's gorgeous. Off and tell
(21:25):
people downtown La is gorgeous when you're looking up.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
That's true because I spend a lot of time in
the fashion market and in the flower mart. I love
that urban street level stuff. But the California Democrat Party
runs this city into the ground, so that on the
ground of all of La is the detritus of human
remains and feces and you know, raw chicken and urine.
(21:52):
It's horrible, completely unconsortably. LaGuardia said, there's no Democrat or
Republican way to clean the streets, but here in California's
specifically in La the Democrats have proved there is a
Democrat way to screw it all up.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
That's what I wanted to ask about because what I find,
and again I'm being specific to La City. I know
we're thinking more broadly county wide, but La City the
economic engine of the entire Southern California region. The debates
tend to be between a leftist, maybe a democratic socialist
not necessarily mainstream, and somebody from the trade maybe liberal
(22:25):
left Democrats classically right, yeah, yeah, but that's the battle
you end up seeing. We should get the RVs off
the streets, we should clean up. We need to turn
the street lights back on and stop the people from
stealing it. And those are Democrats saying that. And then
we just saw in the most recent election that Democrat
lose Kevin de le On to someone more aligned with
the Democratic Socialist.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
And they make no mistake, he's incompetent, but I voted
for him.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
The Republicans have to choose him, right, I chose So
where's your team at in those races?
Speaker 5 (22:54):
We have to make the math better. Right. My appeal
to everybody who says why am I leaving an assesspool
and paying through the nose for it is take a
step to the right. If you're a registered Democrat on register,
stop giving them your allegiance. They're screwing up our city
and our county and state. You can vote however you want,
but you don't have to give them the voter registration numbers.
(23:15):
If you're an NPP, you're declined to state voter. Consider
becoming a Republican again. We have open primaries. It's all irrelevant,
but it'll make it easier for Republican candidates to find you.
And most importantly, if you're not registered to vote at all,
I'm begging you register now, because when sane, competent people
(23:36):
see the math start to change. When Democrat numbers start
to dip and Republican registration gets within twenty points of
Democrat registration, we win. Why because half of those MVPs
are ours, but also because we can govern properly. So
we have to make the math attractive enough so that
when someone like a Rick Caruso, a lifelong Republican, considers
(23:58):
running for mayor, which is a nonpartisan race, and his
Democrat consultant says, what you need to do is, you know,
reregister as a Democrat, which was irrelevant and just made
him look inauthentic, he will say, no, the math supports
me staying as I am or even being NPP. Because
we need people who have something to lose to run.
(24:19):
We need business owners, we need people who've been affected
by the fires and Pacific palisades in Altadena and Pasadena
to come to me. And by the way, on March eighth,
I'll have an event where people can talk about how
do we get into leadership positions. Come talk to us
because we need and by the way, the Democrat Party
of Los Angeles needs us because they're trying to push
(24:41):
back on the DSA. They don't want to be socialists.
Our mayor's a Marxist, but they don't all want that.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Speaking of for Caruso, he's taken a high profile role
post wildfires.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
I have I'm going to interrupt.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
Yeah, everyone keeps saying wildfires. We don't have a wildfire
problem in Pacific Palisades. In Altadena we had a drug addicted,
meth addict, homeless encampment. Maybe mention of arson fire problem.
Our fires are whipped up by the winds. But LAFD
has been battling homeless fires for fifty percent or more
(25:21):
of the fires that they face for a decade.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Well, I know a lot of us are waiting for
confirmation on the origin of those fires, but there are
plenty of reports of fires started by homeless camps in
the wild and just the numbers.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
By the way in the city. You can see it yourself.
I have film on Twitter of myself coming across an
underpass fire and going down there to see if anybody
was passed out in their tent.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
How political will the wildfires be. We're already getting glimpses
of that. But could there be inroads made by Republicans
based on the local government's response. We'll continue with La
County GOP Chairwoman Roxanne Hogue.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Next.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on DEMANDAM six.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Or forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. This is
Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks will finish up now
with a new chairwoman of the La County GOP, Roxane Hogue.
What do you think these devastating fires due to the
political landscape of La County? Because I feel like even
observing the democratic City Council and the La County Board
(26:23):
of Supervisors, there seems to be a shift in what
people are willing to say to each other as elected officials.
There's more challenging of positions going on. And we watched
Mayor Bass fire the fire chief, and she was only
flanked by a few members of city council, not the
entire council, So we might see some internal squabbling from
(26:43):
the people who already exist in office. Do you think
that there is an opportunity here? I don't want to
characterize it as building on tragedy, of course, but does
this offer an opportunity for people to reassess the politics
and governance of this region therefore, offering an opening to
an alternative.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
Absolutely does because there is an awakening of people to
the fact that most of us live normal lives and
don't want to think about politics, right I want to
follow the NBA or what's going on with hockey and
my favorite Netflix show. When you realize that your betters,
your elites, your leaders are woefully lacking, it does cause
(27:19):
a shift. We had it in COVID to realize that
the Ward of Supervisors runs this public health department that
is that fake doctor is the head of and now
my kids can't go to school for two years. That
was shocking, but humans, being humans, we forget and then
we go okay, moving on, and then the fires happen
and you go, wait a second. You had one hundred
(27:42):
and seventeen a million gallon reservoir that you kept empty
in a fire zone. You went to Ghana when everybody knew.
Everybody knew that there was going to be high wind warnings,
and we know what happens in high wind warnings. So
it is really opening people's eyes to the reality that
the people we thought had our best injured to heart,
(28:04):
they're dumb. They're dumb as dirt and there's a little
Malfi's and thrown in there as well.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Give me the three issues that you see. Maybe next
year it's an election year. Next year it's a mayoral
election year. There gonn be city council seats supervisors.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
And then in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
We'll be electing our first county wide executive, the county mayor.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
I guess we could call it loosely.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
What are the top three issues that you see where
Republicans can do their proverbial pounts.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
Well, the top three issues where we live are corruption, crime,
and crime. It's affecting all of us. The money spent
on LA Homeless Services Authority, for example, we could have
given each of those people on the streets their own
personal psychiatrists to help them into sobriety, which is what
(28:52):
they need, not a house. The corruption is off the charts,
by the way, Mayor Bass firing the fire chief, who
was worse? Either of them is good. I don't pick
either one to win that fight. The crime is a
very real thing. People who worked really hard to have
nice places and nice businesses and nice homes are living
in fear. I don't know if you've seen there's a
(29:13):
new service in La. It's like Uber with their back
and heat and then just the grime. Why can't I
take my kids to the library. Why can't I walk
down the street and not have to, you know, dip
my shoes and bleach afterwards. So they've failed completely at
the three things you should expect from city and county governance.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Roxanne Hogue, la County Republican Party chairperson, thanks for coming
to Burbank and chatting with us here at KFI.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
We do appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
So there's Roxanne Hogue, the chairperson of the La County
Republican Party. She's got high hopes for Republicans in this
Democratic dominated area and we'll see how it goes. It
is an election year next year and we're going to
be covering it, so we'll keep an eye on all
of that for you for sure. Now, we obviously have
some turmoil at La City Hall and there will likely
(30:05):
be political fallout. There will be people who see opportunities
and I've been talking about this since the wildfires. That
just as a reporter, as someone who observes city officials
and county officials, and as I noted in that interview
with Roxanne, Hogue. There does appear to be a shift.
You are seeing members of both of those governing bodies
(30:25):
start to challenge each other more, perhaps in ways that
I hadn't observed before. I think that the wildfires that
have happened here in La County have caused a political shift.
It is realigning priorities. It's forcing the folks to reassess
what is important, what matters. And this is such a
(30:48):
catastrophic disaster. I've said this before on our weekly show
here on Saturdays, that we haven't even really had time
yet to grieve what has been lost. We haven't even
had a full assessment of what the damage is. The
city itself isn't completely sure. They are giving updated numbers
every couple of weeks on their own financial losses, whether
(31:09):
it be parks, road infrastructure, street lights, those sorts of things.
The numbers have grown. We don't know what we've lost yet,
and we don't know what's going to be rebuilt or
how it's going to be rebuilt. So this is going
to be the biggest test either of these governments, the
city or the county, have ever faced. And so what
(31:33):
we are tasked with as members of the media and
what you are tasked with as members of the public
is watching closely and determining who the leaders are. Are
you seeing leadership right now at city Hall? Maybe in
some corners, maybe you don't think so in others. Same
at the County building, maybe you're pleased, maybe you're not.
(31:54):
I know, the week after the fires really raged and
we went live on the air and took phone calls
here from a lot of people who were upset about
the politicization of the fires, but they're happy with their
elected officials. And then we heard calls from others who
were ready to fire everybody. So we're going to keep
an eye on that. I'll tell you what I will
(32:17):
be watching for next week at La City halls, whether
anything comes of the firing of La Fire Chief Kristen
Crowley by Mayor Aaron Bass. We have already heard from
City council Member Monica Rodriguez that she's not happy about it.
But we also saw while Mayor Bass was firing the chief,
four members of city council with her. Now, if the
(32:39):
council exercises exercises its power to overturn that decision, it
would require ten votes. If you've got four people standing
behind the mayor. While that happens, of a fifteen member body,
you could only afford to lose one more, you would
need the other ten to be unified. So I don't
know that the math is there, but I would be
curious of out whether a debate takes place at all.
(33:03):
So that's what I'm keeping an eye on in local
government next week, and we'll be reporting on if anything
comes of that, and at the Board of Supervisors, we'll
see if they move forward on what we talked about
in our first hour here tonight, that rent protection for
people who lost their income because of the fires. We're
not talking about people necessarily who lost their homes in
the Palisades or Alta Dina, but people who might have
(33:25):
worked at a store or at a home there and
no longer have their income and now may be faced
with eviction. So the county is looking at creating a
ten million dollar fund to possibly help those folks and
keep landlords off their back. So we'll be watching for
that as well. You heard our guest in the first
Now we're talking about how that may be bad news
(33:47):
for landlords, and it may be bad news for the
rest of us as well, because it could impact the
price of housing. Overall, local government sure is fun and
I do love covering it for you here. Another advantage
of living in Los Angeles, of course, is our proximity
to the entertainment industry. There's no place like it. Everybody
in the world watches what we put out, and it
(34:09):
is a wards season. We've got the Oscars in a
couple of weeks, but tomorrow is the Screen Actors' Guild Awards,
and I regret I didn't vote. You know, those of
us in local media, in most outlets, the radio and
the television stations were members of sag AFTRA. Now we
are the less glamorous Aftra of sag Aftra, but we
(34:31):
are members of the union and we do have the
right to vote, and I miss my chance.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
I guess I could have voted.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Up until yesterday, I haven't seen anything, so I would
have felt weird doing that. But they, you know, they
give you the access to watch everything and assess everything,
and so that's pretty cool. But that'll be happening tomorrow
night and the SAG Awards will air at five o'clock
here locally, and that is something I really love about
being in the West Coast. Now, after spending my entire
life in the Eastern time zone. Is how early national
(35:00):
events are out here.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
It's perfect.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Five o'clock start to this, and I guess the Oscars
will probably start at five o'clock here as well. You know,
when you're in the Eastern time zone, as most of
Kentucky is where I lived, the Oscars would end like
after eleven o'clock. And that's late the Super Bowl too,
I mean, forget about it. Super Bowl Sunday Monday morning
is a drag because it's so late. But here, oh,
(35:26):
it's just perfect. And I will say, as a college
basketball guy, naturally being from Kentucky, when the NCAA Men's
basketball tournament starts in March, you know they usually have
the big tip off at noons, the first game noon Eastern.
Here you're giving me basketball, the best of basketball at
(35:48):
nine o'clock in the morning. Oh, thank you. In spite
of all of the problems here in Los Angeles, we've
got pretty good weather and we've got early start times
for major American events, and for that I am grateful.
And I'm also grateful to all of you for listening
(36:09):
to us here tonight on KFI AM six forty. I
am Michael Monks. This is Michael Monks Reports. Follow me
on social media at Mike Monks LA. That's m I
C m O nks LA, Instagram, Twitter, whatever. Look me
up there and I'd be happy to engage with you.
Send me tips, send me comments, and you can also
catch me doing the news all week long here at KFI.
(36:31):
On Monday, I'm filling in for Amy King Bright and
Early doing wake Up Call and anchoring the news throughout
Bill Handle's show and the start of Gary and Shannon
as well, so I'll look forward to talking to you there.
So for our producer Matthew Toffler and our technical director
Raoul Cortes, I'm Michael Monks. We will talk again soon.
Thanks for listening to us here on KFI AM six
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Forty, KFI AM six forty on demand
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