Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Certainly we're going to do our part to collectively clean
this city up and work with other agencies. So I'm
one hundred percent confident when you look back in Fresno
in six months to one year, you're going to see
a completely different city, a completely different.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
City, completely different. Mayor Dyer said five years ago, Well
it is completely different. I will say it's worse. I'll
throw in way worse. I'll go way worse on it.
I like to welcome in studio. He's representing the Blackstone
Merchants Association. AJ Rossomni AJ. Welcome in. Good to meet you, sir.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
You bet you. I was telling the story and director
Ryan Nigel goes, I know and want me to ask
you on. He'll come on. I said, yeah, ask him.
So thank you both for making this happen here. AJI
give us your story and tell us what business you ow.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
My story is. I'm an immigrant immigrated to forty years ago.
I'm American. I wake up everyone and say, I'm blessed
to be American. I love my country, I loved my city.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Where'd you come? Where'd you come from?
Speaker 4 (01:03):
I was born in Liberia, Africa, and then I went
to Lebanon when I was five years old. I was
there for twelve years or so. I lived nine years
in the Civil War, then I went back to Liberia,
then I came here from.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, I could interview you for like three hours on
a Civil War cutn't I How old were you as
a as a little kid or how were you when
that you were living through that.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I was there when I was five, and actually I
left when I was almost twenty, so maybe fifteen years.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So a lot of memories of that. Yeah, of course,
what did you think of America before you came here?
I asked a pastor here from Romania and he said
his dad had some VHS tapes of the TV show
Dallas with Who Shot Jr? That was it? What did
you think of America?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Fact?
Speaker 4 (01:46):
So leimitary during the Civil War, A lot of Lebanese
immigrated to America, and then all what we heard in
Lebanon during the war that oh wow, they came to America,
they lived in American dream, they became very successful. So
I knew when I was a teen nas that I'm
going to end up in America to live in American dry.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
What was your preconceived notion I guess of America. What
when you landed here and got to see what is
it like? What it was like? Was it better or
worse or just kind of what you thought it is.
You can be honest with us. You won't hurt her feelings.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
It is the greatest country in the whole world. You
tell me what other country in the whole world. And
immigrants can run for public office. I'm not the first one.
I'm not going to be the first one. It's not
in Australia, it's not in France, it's not in Germany,
it's not in Great Britain.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
It's only in America.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And you've been here forty years. Forty years, well, and
tell us your story when you got here, man, it
went in an overnight? Success? Was it? A lot of work,
a lot of struggle.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
So America is a meritocracy. So you come here, you
work hard, you can achieve. So America's built on family values,
hard work.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
And education. That's the recipe of success in America.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
And were lacking some of that these days, aren't We
We're quite a bit off. And I think that's why
it's turned in And I know I've read I've been
reading your comments with the Blackstone Merchants Association AJ and
I can read in there because you make it clear
that you have a heart, you feel bad for these
people like I do. They cut right through back here
Blackstone and Shaw. They cut through our back parking lot
(03:20):
to get over here to forty one and then you know,
head down toward the mall area. So I've seen people
that probably like you. A guy here that I about
six seven years I know his dad used to work
on race cars in Texas, but he's stuck in this life.
It is a lifestyle. They want it, they don't want
the help.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Yes, and homelessness is destroying businesses, residents, community and the
city as a whole. Yet to be honest, the city
criminalizes the victims, and they go after the victimstead of
going after the criminal.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
What kind of criminalization has happened to some businesses on Blockstow?
And that you're saying from the city government.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
For example, if a company, if a company calls the
city multiple times because our homeless people outside of property
or on their property, eventually given notice, it's like you're
responsible for the for these people. You're wasting our time.
So we're criminalizing the victim. So let me give you
(04:24):
what how bad homelessness is what causes in Fresno. Homeless
people in Freston are one percent of population, yet up
between forty to fifty percent of fire in Fresno is
because of homeless people. I give you an example of
Jeb's Blueberry that closed seven eight months ago. The business
(04:47):
closed and they move to Clovis. And they move to Clovis.
Why because they don't have crime?
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Basically, I read your comment yesterday on the air about
that how well they're doing there now?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Yes, and the business the I party owner. For the
last eight months, he's been trying either to sell it
or to rent it to somebody. And I've helped them and
many people have heard of from many people, I will
not go to that slump area. So Blackstone, that is
the backbone of the city. It's called today slump area.
You know that black Blackstone. It's eight and a half
(05:19):
miles and it's the highest gross revenue for the city,
highest gros corridor that produced the highest revenue for the city.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
It's Blackstone.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Well, you got sixty names on your petition. There's I
assume a lot of restaurants, and I know there's a
lot of car dealerships and in those kinds of things, automotive,
tire stores, hotels, you name it. It's all up and
up and down that street.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
And I went personally to each one of them to
sign it. I got I've got hundreds. If I want
to buy it, I don't have time to do it.
Let me give you another story about it. We like
the story. You know, I'm walking the street talking to people.
Are not at the lady's house and next door house
there's a lot, there's homeless people in it. When I
went to knock at her house. In front of her house,
there are some people sitting there too, homeless. The area
(06:07):
smelled marijuana. But I knocked at her house. She was
afraid to talk to me because she was afraid that
those homeless people retaliate against her. So she is a
hostage in the own house.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, we heard these stories coming from Oakland, you know,
fifteen years ago. Now they're here. So the same as
how city deteriorates that that example right there that you
gave aj, she's a she's a kidnapped in there. They
kidnapped her and put her in there without really kidnapping.
Get where we're going with this, Well, it has changed
(06:41):
how I feel getting out of my car at work.
You're always looking around, yes, left and right, you're always
saying it didn't used to be that way. Let me
go ahead and tell you. We have these stationed vans
that were behind the security gatelock with barbed wire up there.
They got the catalytic converters out of those, so they
were there. We had our boss, boss lady here was
(07:03):
out there with the Fresno police. They were sleeping inside.
They were breaking in and sleeping inside the vans. In
one they'd even lit a fire.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Yes, that's so wrong talking about fire. Jebs Jebs had
had multiple fire within the building. He has over Jebs Blueberry.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Okay, that moved the clothes.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yes, so they have over two.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
He has over two hundred thousand dollars damage of fire
and people stealing, stripping wires, all that stuff. The front
of it today is all burned out. And why because
somebody who was called at night want to arm up.
Look at grocery outlet. They moved from the area from
blacks On an Ashland. I give you a good example
of Boston Market. So bost the market. They moved out.
The property owner got a new tenant and h he
(07:49):
has to fix the place before he rents it out.
So he reinstalled the lights on the parking lot and
he put cameras. Next day there stolen. He's fixing the inside,
remodel the side. At night, he boards it up, he
secures it. He comes next morning and everything's vandalized and stolen.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Have there been more police patrols at night when people
aren't around now?
Speaker 4 (08:10):
So I helped him get security. I have security even better,
and he's working on it today. But you know, the
city again blames the victim for the problems instead of saying, hey,
we're gonna help you.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
It's we pay taxes.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Well, what okay, what can city police do when you
call him out? Hey, these people are in a lot
next to that woman's house and she's afraid to come out.
They're camping there. We have the Supreme Court of the
United States that we can implement a no camping that
went down. What are they not doing when they're called?
What are the police not doing?
Speaker 4 (08:47):
It's not the police. We have one of the best
police in this in the United States. I mean, it's
not the police, it's the policies of the city. So
what we can do is the way the government works,
and it's not the city, it's the government as a whole.
We always work with the symptoms, we don't try to
find a solution. So for example, in California, we spend
(09:09):
over twenty four billion dollars on sheltering for homeless.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Did we solve it now? It's getting worse.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Same thing in Fresno we spend between two hundred million
to four hundred million dollars on the issue. Just thousand
people did get any better now. So that's what the
finish of insanity is if you keep on doing what
you've been doing expecting different results. So we need to
find a solution. And the solution is I've been talking
to the city for a long time, three years. Maybe
(09:36):
they don't want to listen to me. I've checked with
homeless advocate and I agree with my solution. So we
need to find a save zone. We need to put
them a safe zone. And the safe don't going to
provide self manage with the help of a homeless advocate.
We're going to have wrap around services. And I say
we need to have metadon clinic because we need to
(09:58):
take the edge of that. We can not force them
into rehab. They need to ask for it. At the
same time, we need to provide work for them. Could
be in farmland, it could be different work because we
need to create the new habits for them.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
This area that you're talking about, is it mandatory or
can they at any moment walk up and leave and
just walk out.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Well, it has to be a contact. You have to
be there for one yet, because they're not like that. Okay,
they're not going to fix themselves within thirty days.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
And aha. I always say when we see people on
the corner, if somebody's having a stroke or heart attack,
we pull over, we call nine one one. People will
come out, people that don't even know the person and
help them that they're flailing on the ground. But yet
we see them all around us with their mind not
working right. The heart a heart attack, it's a part
of the body, the brain, part of their body. Their
(10:44):
brain's not working right. They're talking to Benjamin Franklin and
Jesus at the same time at the street light, stepping
out into traffic. You can tell they're uncapt they're unhealthy,
and yet we can't say, wait, they need help, call
nine to one one. They need to go in for treatment,
just like somebody that had a heart attack at the
corner here.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Yes, and most likely those people talk about they're own drugs.
It just took some kind of drugs and that's what
they are, the way they are. So I thought that
when somebody taking legal drugs, you're gonna pick them up
and take them to jail or something.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
We don't do that. We don't do that, So I
don't know what happened.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
I mean, we've opened up shoot up centers and we
give out free syringes in Fresno County. Yeah, we kind
of turn a blind eye to this. Well, you are
not any positive reaction. You said for three years you've
been contacting the city. I didn't know it'd been that long.
Thank you for continuing the hard fight on that. But
any positive reaction any working with you guys on block.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
Snow, Well, let me say that I've been doing for
ten years. So twenty sixteen one, I started association. I
started out of desperation because my business I was being
broken in about ten times per month. So is my neighbors,
a lot of them.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
He still in business. Did I ask you what business
you're in?
Speaker 4 (11:59):
It's closed right now because I had the fire, electrical fire,
So it wasn't from homeless, okay, but that's why we
started the association. By twenty eighteen mid of twenty eighteen,
the area was very clean and very safe, and I
had a system from a code enforcer. We created a
good nable of policy for the hotels and the hotels
went from being mostly homeless people to ninety ninety five
(12:23):
percent tourism. But then when COVID hit and we came back,
it was ten times worse than it was in the past.
And the reason why is during COVID, I cannot blame
the hotels. It's they needed money. They need to pay
the mortgage, so that the government was paying the money
to house the homeless. So after after COVID, I came
up with a proposal to the city, I said they
(12:45):
paid tot tax. So the theoty, which is tourism tax,
has to go into an account to encourage the hotels
to rebuild and to bring tourism back to Blackstone. So,
for example, somebody paid two hundred thousand dollars a year
in tourism tax steal t so if they decide to
fix the place.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
They will get the money back.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
They use that money so if it costs three hundred
thousand dollars, they're going to use one hundred thousand dollars.
They're gonna put one hundred from the pocket. So instead
of doing that, the city went and bought hotels on Blackstone,
so blacks and again it's the.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Heart of the city.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
They bought properties within thousand feet from three different school.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
You're talking about the operation, was it room.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Key, No, I'm not talking about operation.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
I'm talking about when the purchase clearing point, so it's
one thousand feet and the purchase others, but one thousand
feet from three different schools and on Blackstone around all
the businesses and residents, so kids are afraid they cannot
walk safely to schools anymore. And when about these when
about clear On Point. They brought people from out of
(13:52):
the area to house them here on Blackstone. And when
they brought these people house them over here, there's an
entourage of people from although from all that shelters and
Blackstone brought over eight hundred people to Blackstone that live
on the street, and those are the people that were
dealing with today.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Well, I'm glad you're taking a stand. I want to
know what you have to say about Attorney General Bonta. Here,
President Trump just signed in executive order saying there can
be I guess new laws. You know, a California judge
a step up and stop this as well. But listen
to our attorney general. They're acting like they've they're on point,
like they've handled this problem.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Don't just push the problem way and move the problem.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
We solve the problem by bringing folks indoors where they
have wrap around services, mental health services, ejection services if
that's what they need, a roof over their head. Of course,
maybe other services to help them get on their feet
and be successful. But we should never surrender our compassion
and our humanity.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
They say the right thing, but they don't do it.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
So but the one point over here, it's called seek
to understand before you understood. You need to create a
win win.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
So back that up again.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Say that again slowly, seek to understand before you understood.
So you need to ask questions. You need to ask questions.
What do they want? You cannot make decisions for them.
Those people today on the street, they don't want to
be housed because they have an addiction.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
They don't to be housed.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
They don't want responsibility they don't want to give up
their addiction. They want to keep it rolling out there. Well,
we'll talk more about the Blacks Merchants Association. My guest
is aj Rossomni. He's also running for city council. Want
to look you there, you got a big old one
to bite off. We'll talk about it next.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
This is the Trevor Cherry Show on the Valley's Power Talk.
Speaker 6 (15:40):
People are dying on the streets and sidewalks. There's no
compassion stepping over people on the streets and sidewalks. And
we've got on up to this in a way we
have it in the past, State of California with respect
and nowhere to be found on this issue.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
You're right, Thank you for being honest there, Governor News.
My guests in studio Aj Rossomni. He's with the Black
Saw Merchants Association, and he's also running for city council
as well. We'll get city council in just one moment.
Do you find anybody that out there, because I know
you kind of reach out and try and get people helped.
(16:14):
Does anybody accepted help and like gotten better, got them better?
Speaker 4 (16:18):
I don't know, because they need to be rehabbed. But Basically,
if somebody on the street want we ask everybody, do
you want housing?
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Do you inn housing?
Speaker 4 (16:26):
So very few would say yes, I want housing. If
they want housing, I made a call. I make a
call and I get them housing through the hard team.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
So is that open right now? Or they're like tonight,
if they see a guy begging at Shaw, I'm forty
one and he's sleeping back here behind the furniture store,
there is a bed for them.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Not on Friday nights.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Not on Friday nights.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
After it for one day.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Now, President Trump has just done an executive order here
where homeless can be removed from the streets by cities,
and he's instructed Attorney General to actually implement this. But
there would have to be some kind of facility for
him to go to. Are you are you kind of picture?
Do you remember Sheriff Joe or Pyo in Arizona where
he had them in pink things and eating Blooney sandwiches
(17:05):
some kind of setup like that. Maybe better than Blooney sandwiches,
but you get where I'm going. Is that kind of
a place.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
That's a safety zone. We need to create those.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Ku and refugee camp kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Well, it's a it's a compound. It's a compound, so
we need to take them off everybody's properties. So let
me let me give you this. California spent over twenty
four billion dollars on sheltering people. Is it get did
it get any better? It did not, So you don't
even have receipts. Yeah, yeah, exactly. We have billions of
dollars that disappear too. So the solution doesn't work. So
(17:37):
we need to find a different solution. And again, like
I said, solution is need to ask what they want,
ask the advocates what they want, and find out some
reasonable So I'm a businessman, so we always need to
look for solution. There's two ways you can look at something.
You can say it's, uh, it's possible but very hard,
or it's hard but very possible. So so what what
(17:59):
you've been doing? As it's working, then you need to
find something else. And the solution again is why why
is it reportant to remove from everybody's property?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Does you have that right?
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Let me tell you.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Yeah, because it's trespassing. But basically, what happened if there's
a shopping center and there are people camping on a
shopping center, and that members of the association call and say, hey,
I need you hed to remove them. So once I
remove them from from the shopping center, within thirty days,
the business people tell me the break into my business
went down to zero, and uh, my revenue went up thirty,
(18:32):
forty and fifty percent. So if we provide safety, business
is gonna prosper. And if business gonna prosper, they're gonna
hire more people, are gonna open more businesses.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
AJ, we're gonna have to have people have personal responsibility
and quick coddling them. It's a lifestyle choice. I'm all
for helping people that want help, but this is a
lifestyle they they got an issue with authority. I had
a security company general manager. You're in here, he goes, Yeah.
They all have problems with authority. They don't want to
go by the rules the rest of us.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Yes, and this is what our governor said. If you're
a few years ago, uh, jay walking. Now it's legal
because we're discriminate against certain kind of people.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
If somebody is ignorant. If somebody is ignorant, we.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Hey, what's is their prostitution issue? On blackone?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Not as much as we had before. So it's less, but.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yes, he prostitute zone would be around the transience.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I mean we do have it, but not as much
as before.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Hey, you're running in the I got literally a minute
here City Council. We'll have you back on to talk
about your campaign for District seven. But tell us why.
I guess you're running to say black zone and help
the city.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Look I had for me, I said, I had no
choice but to run because I see where the city
is going, and I'm running for people before politics. I
want to do what's right for president. I want to
do what's right for the people. When I go knock outdoors,
people don't tell me are your republic Are you a Democrat?
What wod they care about is look at my road,
look at the sidewalks.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I need to put food on my table.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
I need to pay my mortgage on my rent, and
I need to pay my power bell. I need help,
and the city only come to us and knock at
our door whenever they need a vote.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Well, I knew it was going to be a good
interview from reading you, and I kind of felt like
I already knew
Speaker 1 (20:19):
You assist the Trevor carry show, Mond the Valley's Power talk,
Certainly we're going to do our part to collectively clean
this city up and work with other agencies. So I'm
one hundred percent confident when you look back in Fresno
in six months to one year, you're going to see
a completely different city, a completely different.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
City, completely different. Mayor Dyer said five years ago, Well
it is completely different. I will say it's worse. I'll
throw in way worse. I'll go way worse on it.
I like to welcome in studio. He's representing the Blackstone
Merchants Association. AJ Rossomni AJ. Welcome in. Good to meet you, sir.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
You bet you. I was telling the story and director
Ryan Nigel goes, I know and want me to ask
you on. He'll come on. I said, yeah, ask him.
So thank you both for making this happen here. AJI
give us your story and tell us what business you ow.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
My story is. I'm an immigrant immigrated to forty years ago.
I'm American. I wake up everyone and say, I'm blessed
to be American. I love my country, I loved my city.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Where'd you come? Where'd you come from?
Speaker 4 (01:03):
I was born in Liberia, Africa, and then I went
to Lebanon when I was five years old. I was
there for twelve years or so. I lived nine years
in the Civil War, then I went back to Liberia,
then I came here from.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, I could interview you for like three hours on
a Civil War cutn't I How old were you as
a as a little kid or how were you when
that you were living through that.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I was there when I was five, and actually I
left when I was almost twenty, so maybe fifteen years.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So a lot of memories of that. Yeah, of course,
what did you think of America before you came here?
I asked a pastor here from Romania and he said
his dad had some VHS tapes of the TV show
Dallas with Who Shot Jr? That was it? What did
you think of America?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Fact?
Speaker 4 (01:46):
So leimitary during the Civil War, A lot of Lebanese
immigrated to America, and then all what we heard in
Lebanon during the war that oh wow, they came to America,
they lived in American dream, they became very successful. So
I knew when I was a teen nas that I'm
going to end up in America to live in American dry.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
What was your preconceived notion I guess of America. What
when you landed here and got to see what is
it like? What it was like? Was it better or
worse or just kind of what you thought it is.
You can be honest with us. You won't hurt her feelings.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
It is the greatest country in the whole world. You
tell me what other country in the whole world. And
immigrants can run for public office. I'm not the first one.
I'm not going to be the first one. It's not
in Australia, it's not in France, it's not in Germany,
it's not in Great Britain.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
It's only in America.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And you've been here forty years. Forty years, well, and
tell us your story when you got here, man, it
went in an overnight? Success? Was it? A lot of work,
a lot of struggle.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
So America is a meritocracy. So you come here, you
work hard, you can achieve. So America's built on family values,
hard work.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
And education. That's the recipe of success in America.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
And were lacking some of that these days, aren't We
We're quite a bit off. And I think that's why
it's turned in And I know I've read I've been
reading your comments with the Blackstone Merchants Association AJ and
I can read in there because you make it clear
that you have a heart, you feel bad for these
people like I do. They cut right through back here
Blackstone and Shaw. They cut through our back parking lot
(03:20):
to get over here to forty one and then you know,
head down toward the mall area. So I've seen people
that probably like you. A guy here that I about
six seven years I know his dad used to work
on race cars in Texas, but he's stuck in this life.
It is a lifestyle. They want it, they don't want
the help.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Yes, and homelessness is destroying businesses, residents, community and the
city as a whole. Yet to be honest, the city
criminalizes the victims, and they go after the victimstead of
going after the criminal.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
What kind of criminalization has happened to some businesses on Blockstow?
And that you're saying from the city government.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
For example, if a company, if a company calls the
city multiple times because our homeless people outside of property
or on their property, eventually given notice, it's like you're
responsible for the for these people. You're wasting our time.
So we're criminalizing the victim. So let me give you
(04:24):
what how bad homelessness is what causes in Fresno. Homeless
people in Freston are one percent of population, yet up
between forty to fifty percent of fire in Fresno is
because of homeless people. I give you an example of
Jeb's Blueberry that closed seven eight months ago. The business
(04:47):
closed and they move to Clovis. And they move to Clovis.
Why because they don't have crime?
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Basically, I read your comment yesterday on the air about
that how well they're doing there now?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Yes, and the business the I party owner. For the
last eight months, he's been trying either to sell it
or to rent it to somebody. And I've helped them and
many people have heard of from many people, I will
not go to that slump area. So Blackstone, that is
the backbone of the city. It's called today slump area.
You know that black Blackstone. It's eight and a half
(05:19):
miles and it's the highest gross revenue for the city,
highest gros corridor that produced the highest revenue for the city.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
It's Blackstone.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Well, you got sixty names on your petition. There's I
assume a lot of restaurants, and I know there's a
lot of car dealerships and in those kinds of things, automotive,
tire stores, hotels, you name it. It's all up and
up and down that street.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
And I went personally to each one of them to
sign it. I got I've got hundreds. If I want
to buy it, I don't have time to do it.
Let me give you another story about it. We like
the story. You know, I'm walking the street talking to people.
Are not at the lady's house and next door house
there's a lot, there's homeless people in it. When I
went to knock at her house. In front of her house,
there are some people sitting there too, homeless. The area
(06:07):
smelled marijuana. But I knocked at her house. She was
afraid to talk to me because she was afraid that
those homeless people retaliate against her. So she is a
hostage in the own house.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, we heard these stories coming from Oakland, you know,
fifteen years ago. Now they're here. So the same as
how city deteriorates that that example right there that you
gave aj, she's a she's a kidnapped in there. They
kidnapped her and put her in there without really kidnapping.
Get where we're going with this, Well, it has changed
(06:41):
how I feel getting out of my car at work.
You're always looking around, yes, left and right, you're always
saying it didn't used to be that way. Let me
go ahead and tell you. We have these stationed vans
that were behind the security gatelock with barbed wire up there.
They got the catalytic converters out of those, so they
were there. We had our boss, boss lady here was
(07:03):
out there with the Fresno police. They were sleeping inside.
They were breaking in and sleeping inside the vans. In
one they'd even lit a fire.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Yes, that's so wrong talking about fire. Jebs Jebs had
had multiple fire within the building. He has over Jebs Blueberry.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Okay, that moved the clothes.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yes, so they have over two.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
He has over two hundred thousand dollars damage of fire
and people stealing, stripping wires, all that stuff. The front
of it today is all burned out. And why because
somebody who was called at night want to arm up.
Look at grocery outlet. They moved from the area from
blacks On an Ashland. I give you a good example
of Boston Market. So bost the market. They moved out.
The property owner got a new tenant and h he
(07:49):
has to fix the place before he rents it out.
So he reinstalled the lights on the parking lot and
he put cameras. Next day there stolen. He's fixing the inside,
remodel the side. At night, he boards it up, he
secures it. He comes next morning and everything's vandalized and stolen.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Have there been more police patrols at night when people
aren't around now?
Speaker 4 (08:10):
So I helped him get security. I have security even better,
and he's working on it today. But you know, the
city again blames the victim for the problems instead of saying, hey,
we're gonna help you.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
It's we pay taxes.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Well, what okay, what can city police do when you
call him out? Hey, these people are in a lot
next to that woman's house and she's afraid to come out.
They're camping there. We have the Supreme Court of the
United States that we can implement a no camping that
went down. What are they not doing when they're called?
What are the police not doing?
Speaker 4 (08:47):
It's not the police. We have one of the best
police in this in the United States. I mean, it's
not the police, it's the policies of the city. So
what we can do is the way the government works,
and it's not the city, it's the government as a whole.
We always work with the symptoms, we don't try to
find a solution. So for example, in California, we spend
(09:09):
over twenty four billion dollars on sheltering for homeless.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Did we solve it now? It's getting worse.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Same thing in Fresno we spend between two hundred million
to four hundred million dollars on the issue. Just thousand
people did get any better now. So that's what the
finish of insanity is if you keep on doing what
you've been doing expecting different results. So we need to
find a solution. And the solution is I've been talking
to the city for a long time, three years. Maybe
(09:36):
they don't want to listen to me. I've checked with
homeless advocate and I agree with my solution. So we
need to find a save zone. We need to put
them a safe zone. And the safe don't going to
provide self manage with the help of a homeless advocate.
We're going to have wrap around services. And I say
we need to have metadon clinic because we need to
(09:58):
take the edge of that. We can not force them
into rehab. They need to ask for it. At the
same time, we need to provide work for them. Could
be in farmland, it could be different work because we
need to create the new habits for them.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
This area that you're talking about, is it mandatory or
can they at any moment walk up and leave and
just walk out.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Well, it has to be a contact. You have to
be there for one yet, because they're not like that. Okay,
they're not going to fix themselves within thirty days.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
And aha. I always say when we see people on
the corner, if somebody's having a stroke or heart attack,
we pull over, we call nine one one. People will
come out, people that don't even know the person and
help them that they're flailing on the ground. But yet
we see them all around us with their mind not
working right. The heart a heart attack, it's a part
of the body, the brain, part of their body. Their
(10:44):
brain's not working right. They're talking to Benjamin Franklin and
Jesus at the same time at the street light, stepping
out into traffic. You can tell they're uncapt they're unhealthy,
and yet we can't say, wait, they need help, call
nine to one one. They need to go in for treatment,
just like somebody that had a heart attack at the
corner here.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Yes, and most likely those people talk about they're own drugs.
It just took some kind of drugs and that's what
they are, the way they are. So I thought that
when somebody taking legal drugs, you're gonna pick them up
and take them to jail or something.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
We don't do that. We don't do that, So I
don't know what happened.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
I mean, we've opened up shoot up centers and we
give out free syringes in Fresno County. Yeah, we kind
of turn a blind eye to this. Well, you are
not any positive reaction. You said for three years you've
been contacting the city. I didn't know it'd been that long.
Thank you for continuing the hard fight on that. But
any positive reaction any working with you guys on block.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
Snow, Well, let me say that I've been doing for
ten years. So twenty sixteen one, I started association. I
started out of desperation because my business I was being
broken in about ten times per month. So is my neighbors,
a lot of them.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
He still in business. Did I ask you what business
you're in?
Speaker 4 (11:59):
It's closed right now because I had the fire, electrical fire,
So it wasn't from homeless, okay, but that's why we
started the association. By twenty eighteen mid of twenty eighteen,
the area was very clean and very safe, and I
had a system from a code enforcer. We created a
good nable of policy for the hotels and the hotels
went from being mostly homeless people to ninety ninety five
(12:23):
percent tourism. But then when COVID hit and we came back,
it was ten times worse than it was in the past.
And the reason why is during COVID, I cannot blame
the hotels. It's they needed money. They need to pay
the mortgage, so that the government was paying the money
to house the homeless. So after after COVID, I came
up with a proposal to the city, I said they
(12:45):
paid tot tax. So the theoty, which is tourism tax,
has to go into an account to encourage the hotels
to rebuild and to bring tourism back to Blackstone. So,
for example, somebody paid two hundred thousand dollars a year
in tourism tax steal t so if they decide to
fix the place.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
They will get the money back.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
They use that money so if it costs three hundred
thousand dollars, they're going to use one hundred thousand dollars.
They're gonna put one hundred from the pocket. So instead
of doing that, the city went and bought hotels on Blackstone,
so blacks and again it's the.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Heart of the city.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
They bought properties within thousand feet from three different school.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
You're talking about the operation, was it room.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Key, No, I'm not talking about operation.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
I'm talking about when the purchase clearing point, so it's
one thousand feet and the purchase others, but one thousand
feet from three different schools and on Blackstone around all
the businesses and residents, so kids are afraid they cannot
walk safely to schools anymore. And when about these when
about clear On Point. They brought people from out of
(13:52):
the area to house them here on Blackstone. And when
they brought these people house them over here, there's an
entourage of people from although from all that shelters and
Blackstone brought over eight hundred people to Blackstone that live
on the street, and those are the people that were
dealing with today.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Well, I'm glad you're taking a stand. I want to
know what you have to say about Attorney General Bonta. Here,
President Trump just signed in executive order saying there can
be I guess new laws. You know, a California judge
a step up and stop this as well. But listen
to our attorney general. They're acting like they've they're on point,
like they've handled this problem.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Don't just push the problem way and move the problem.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
We solve the problem by bringing folks indoors where they
have wrap around services, mental health services, ejection services if
that's what they need, a roof over their head. Of course,
maybe other services to help them get on their feet
and be successful. But we should never surrender our compassion
and our humanity.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
They say the right thing, but they don't do it.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
So but the one point over here, it's called seek
to understand before you understood. You need to create a
win win.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
So back that up again.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Say that again slowly, seek to understand before you understood.
So you need to ask questions. You need to ask questions.
What do they want? You cannot make decisions for them.
Those people today on the street, they don't want to
be housed because they have an addiction.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
They don't to be housed.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
They don't want responsibility they don't want to give up
their addiction. They want to keep it rolling out there. Well,
we'll talk more about the Blacks Merchants Association. My guest
is aj Rossomni. He's also running for city council. Want
to look you there, you got a big old one
to bite off. We'll talk about it next.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
This is the Trevor Cherry Show on the Valley's Power Talk.
Speaker 6 (15:40):
People are dying on the streets and sidewalks. There's no
compassion stepping over people on the streets and sidewalks. And
we've got on up to this in a way we
have it in the past, State of California with respect
and nowhere to be found on this issue.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
You're right, Thank you for being honest there, Governor News.
My guests in studio Aj Rossomni. He's with the Black
Saw Merchants Association, and he's also running for city council
as well. We'll get city council in just one moment.
Do you find anybody that out there, because I know
you kind of reach out and try and get people helped.
(16:14):
Does anybody accepted help and like gotten better, got them better?
Speaker 4 (16:18):
I don't know, because they need to be rehabbed. But Basically,
if somebody on the street want we ask everybody, do
you want housing?
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Do you inn housing?
Speaker 4 (16:26):
So very few would say yes, I want housing. If
they want housing, I made a call. I make a
call and I get them housing through the hard team.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
So is that open right now? Or they're like tonight,
if they see a guy begging at Shaw, I'm forty
one and he's sleeping back here behind the furniture store,
there is a bed for them.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Not on Friday nights.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Not on Friday nights.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
After it for one day.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Now, President Trump has just done an executive order here
where homeless can be removed from the streets by cities,
and he's instructed Attorney General to actually implement this. But
there would have to be some kind of facility for
him to go to. Are you are you kind of picture?
Do you remember Sheriff Joe or Pyo in Arizona where
he had them in pink things and eating Blooney sandwiches
(17:05):
some kind of setup like that. Maybe better than Blooney sandwiches,
but you get where I'm going. Is that kind of
a place.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
That's a safety zone. We need to create those.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Ku and refugee camp kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Well, it's a it's a compound. It's a compound, so
we need to take them off everybody's properties. So let
me let me give you this. California spent over twenty
four billion dollars on sheltering people. Is it get did
it get any better? It did not, So you don't
even have receipts. Yeah, yeah, exactly. We have billions of
dollars that disappear too. So the solution doesn't work. So
(17:37):
we need to find a different solution. And again, like
I said, solution is need to ask what they want,
ask the advocates what they want, and find out some
reasonable So I'm a businessman, so we always need to
look for solution. There's two ways you can look at something.
You can say it's, uh, it's possible but very hard,
or it's hard but very possible. So so what what
(17:59):
you've been doing? As it's working, then you need to
find something else. And the solution again is why why
is it reportant to remove from everybody's property?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Does you have that right?
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Let me tell you.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Yeah, because it's trespassing. But basically, what happened if there's
a shopping center and there are people camping on a
shopping center, and that members of the association call and say, hey,
I need you hed to remove them. So once I
remove them from from the shopping center, within thirty days,
the business people tell me the break into my business
went down to zero, and uh, my revenue went up thirty,
(18:32):
forty and fifty percent. So if we provide safety, business
is gonna prosper. And if business gonna prosper, they're gonna
hire more people, are gonna open more businesses.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
AJ, we're gonna have to have people have personal responsibility
and quick coddling them. It's a lifestyle choice. I'm all
for helping people that want help, but this is a
lifestyle they they got an issue with authority. I had
a security company general manager. You're in here, he goes, Yeah.
They all have problems with authority. They don't want to
go by the rules the rest of us.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Yes, and this is what our governor said. If you're
a few years ago, uh, jay walking. Now it's legal
because we're discriminate against certain kind of people.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
If somebody is ignorant. If somebody is ignorant, we.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Hey, what's is their prostitution issue? On blackone?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Not as much as we had before. So it's less, but.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yes, he prostitute zone would be around the transience.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I mean we do have it, but not as much
as before.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Hey, you're running in the I got literally a minute
here City Council. We'll have you back on to talk
about your campaign for District seven. But tell us why.
I guess you're running to say black zone and help
the city.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Look I had for me, I said, I had no
choice but to run because I see where the city
is going, and I'm running for people before politics. I
want to do what's right for president. I want to
do what's right for the people. When I go knock outdoors,
people don't tell me are your republic Are you a Democrat?
What wod they care about is look at my road,
look at the sidewalks.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I need to put food on my table.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
I need to pay my mortgage on my rent, and
I need to pay my power bell. I need help,
and the city only come to us and knock at
our door whenever they need a vote.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Well, I knew it was going to be a good
interview from reading you, and I kind of felt like
I already knew
Speaker 1 (20:19):
You assist the Trevor carry show, Mond the Valley's Power talk,
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.