Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to the Republican Podcast. We'rehere today with Cameron Celeste to talk about
the Fixed forty seven initiative that we'rehoping that we'll be on the ballot in
November. So first off, Iwant to ask you about Summer Stephan,
who is our district attorney. Shehas been leading the way in the fight
against retail theft, so I knowshe was in Congress testifying with regard to
(00:26):
that, so can you fill usin a little bit on that process and
her leadership and fighting retail theft?Absolutely, Thank you so much, Madam
Chairwan for the question. Fighting organizedretail theft and protecting our small businesses,
our working families, and our economyis something that's so important to da Summer
Stephan. Early on, you know, she was touring and visiting small businesses
(00:49):
such as a small small perfume businessin Santa Cedro right along the border where
the smashing grab crimes were affecting hisAmerican dream, and he had to allude
to taking out his most valuable perfumesin the front, which usually you'd put
on display to attract customers to comein, but he had to switch it,
(01:10):
locked the expensive stuff up in theback and then put the cheap stuff
in the end, kind of liketake it, you know, And that
was something that really hit the heartstringsof the District Attorney and knew that this
is something that we had to takeup and fight. We were very blessed
to have the district attorney be thepresident elect of the National District Attorney's Association,
so we were able to partner withthe United States Chamber of Commerce on
(01:34):
initiative to help fight the organized retailtheft. With them, we did multiple
podcasts with their executive Vice President,Neil Bradley. And then as we continue
to fight this effort, word spreadto the House Homeland Security Committee with the
Republican majority, and they had invitedher to come testify before Congress on the
(01:56):
issue, and it was something thatwas very moving. They were interested in
it right around holidays because they knewthat, you know, these types of
smashing grabs are going to be impactinga lot of the businesses locally. So
she testified, she did a greatjob. We kind of have shown the
country, you know, what thenational model San Diego has become, and
her leadership is at the forefront.So give me an idea of what the
(02:16):
initiative process is like, so,thank you, Paula. The initiative process
is really two phases for us rightnow, versus a signature gathering phase.
So we submitted a ballot title tothe Attorney General. The Attorney General accepted
that ballot title, and then oncethat ballot title is is getting provided,
they need to start collecting the signatures, which is where what we're doing right
(02:38):
now. You have the communities upand down the state uniting together to sign
these petitions. You need approximately fivehundred and sixty five thousand signatures, and
those are valid, verified signatures,so that really means you need about seven
hundred to eight hundred thousand signatures justto make sure that you're safe. Once
(02:59):
those signatures are qualified, it goeson to the November general election ballot and
the voters have the choice to readthrough the ballot initiative and vote yes or
no and decide if this is somethingthat they think is best for our quality
of life. So give me whatis going to be the name the ballot
titled of that initiative. Thank youso Unlike the original proposition forty seven,
(03:22):
which kind of create a lot ofthis decay in our communities, it was
originally titled the Safer Schools Act.Now with this fixed forty seven effort,
we got a very fair shake.And the ballot title is the Homelessness Theft
Reduction the Homelessness, Drug Addiction andTheft Reduction Act. Excuse me, majority
of those people that are thefts arebeing done by homeless So I don't want
(03:46):
to say a majority, a minority, but that is a significant population that
is perpetrating those types of crimes.Because what's happening is you have people that
are going in it's like a slowbleed. They're going into the stores are
they're taking, you know, toilettrees, toilet paper, toothbrushes. And
that's why when you go to yourtargets, you see you know, like
(04:06):
deodorant locked up, you know.And and that's, unfortunately, is the
population that's continuing to perpetrate that.And a lot of it is it's not
because they have ill will, butit's because there's a substance abuse issue combined
with mental health. So one ofthe things that proposition aims to do is
get these these individuals into compassionate servicesand get them the help that they need.
(04:29):
Is there is there services that areout there right now. I mean,
is are they everybody backlog because thereis such a homeless issue going on.
So there is absolutely services that areavailable, but the problem is,
you know a lot of these homelessindividuals they don't want the services. The
City of alcoholm did an amazingly powerfulof YouTube video recently that really highlighted the
nexus of the issue where they youknow, they show these interactions with you
(04:54):
know, police officers going into theseencampments because they're unsafe encampments and it's affecting
the communit unity and a lot ofthe interactions they're having, you know,
they're seeing individuals having methamphetamines, arehaving these these drugs, and they don't
want to get into shelters and theydon't want to get into services. So
one of the things this initiative aimsto do is to get the people the
(05:15):
services that they need after they intersectwith the criminal justice system. How how
many signatures have you gathered already?So we gather already over three hundred thousand
signatures. We got twenty five percentof the signatures in the first thirty days.
We have a lot of momentum.We have Republicans and Democrats joining across
the state to help with this petitioneffort. Republicans and Democrats working together.
(05:40):
Republicans Democrats unifying together to build safercommunities, bipartisan something that they believe in.
Yeah, this is a bipartisan effort. We have many Republicans leading locally,
we have Democrat partners up and downthe state. And I think what
we're hearing in you know, areaslike San Francisco and Los Angeles is enough
is enough? You know, peoplewant safety, they want healthy communities.
(06:00):
And today Summer Steffans leading this effort. So none of the other cities have
done what we're doing in San Diego. This is a first a lot a
lot of the ballot, a lotof the ballots. So this is a
statewide ballot initiative effort. So thereare other areas in the state that are
all helping and equally doing the sametype of effort to get the signatures we
need because this is state wide belletinitiative and we need everybody's help. So
(06:26):
tell us about the event that youhave scheduled for Sunday. Thank you.
We are very proud to announce thatwe are bringing together leaders all across the
county we have a majority of mayorsin the county coming together to support this
initiative on Sunday. This coming Sunday, the eighteenth, at nine o'clock in
the morning at the Walmart on CollegeGrove, We're going to be having a
(06:48):
big event where the mayors will becoming together and other community leaders will be
coming together, including with our partnerswith the Republican Party and different other partners
to step up and get petitions andget these petitions out in the communities and
get them signed. So tell ushow if someone wants to sign this petition,
how do they go about getting apetition to sign? Absolutely great question.
(07:11):
So there's several ways that we're distributingthese petitions out in the community.
Primarily, a lot of these mayorsand their jurisdictions are stepping up and they're
hosting about a petition signing events intheir communities. So you can contact your
local mayor to see if they've supportedthis when they're having their event. You
can come to the petition petition eventon Sunday, get a petition, and
(07:33):
soon we're working with our mayors toget steady locations in each city where people
can go to identify where they cango sign the petition and leave. So
you're getting a lot of support fromthe community, a lot of a lot
of businesses, a lot of mayors. Of course, absolutely I shouldn't admit
this, but it's a beautiful problem. I can't keep these petitions on the
(07:55):
shelves now. I've ordered hundreds ofpetitions and there's six signatures per petition per
page, and I've had I've gonethrough nearly a thousand already. I got
five hundred on one day and thenext day I was empty. Wow.
So people are calling there, They'regetting these into their businesses, they're getting
them into their communities. It's areally beautiful thing, so many local organizations.
(08:16):
I just got a text while Iwas walking up here, Cameron,
I already had all my hundred petitionssigned. I need one hundred more.
So it's it's a beautiful awakening that'shappening. And I think it's a real
testament that shows the community desires safecommunities, you know, and they appreciate
District Attorney Summer Stephan's leadership on this, and everybody wants to help. We'd
(08:39):
love to help more too, Sodo we have any photos or anything that
we could add there's a pretty muchevery do we cover everything? I love
that photo. So this is aphoto of the district attorney recently testifying before
Congress. As I mentioned earlier,I think it was so fascinating because the
(09:00):
chairman, I think it was ChairmanFlucker from Texas, was talking about how
much he appreciated the district attorney's honesttestimony. And they had mentioned that,
you know, they appreciated that shedidn't care about the politics of the issues
and she was answering their questions honestlyand telling them what the issues are that
are impacting our communities and why thisis important. So here's something that I
(09:22):
haven't shared with Paula. So Iwas at targetchili Us. Did I talk
to you about this? She'll ofus to Broadway probably about four weeks ago,
and as I walked in, Iwas in the middle of a cross
here. I guess the securities areoff off duty police officers and some gang
members and I was in the middleof both of them with their guns drawn.
(09:45):
When I walked into the store withthe gang telling the costs and inspire
you to spend money, right,Well, I had somebody yesterday tell me
you know, when were we goingto see stores come back into the Chillavista
Westside area grocery stores because they wantmore grocery stores. And I looked at
the person and I said, well, you blame them for not wanting to
come here. I mean, withwhat's going on, I mean, who
(10:07):
would want to open up a businessand then lose as much retail as we've
seen. I mean, this islike a bad movie. And I'm glad
that the District Attorney has stepped upin has been the lead for all this,
because again, it was only goingto get worse before she did something
about it. No, I appreciateyou making that point. Brand I'm sorry
(10:28):
that you had to experience that andsee that. But that's unfortunately, a
very common theme that we're seeing withour businesses. And it's one of the
reasons why the District Attorney Summer Stephanis so passionate about this issue, is
because of all the young women outthere that are working their first job or
trying to help their families get by. You know, they don't sign up
for these dangerous jobs. District AttorneySummer seven, she knew she signed up
(10:50):
for a dangerous job. She wantedto keep San Diego safe. But these
young women and these young men thatare working these retail positions, they shouldn't
be subject to the know this typeof violel lens and it's one of the
reasons why she's so passionate about fightingthis issue. I know we have a
deadline to turn in these signatures inorder to be able to qualify for the
ballot. So tell us a littlebit about that, Thank you, great
(11:11):
question. So April fifteenth is whatI'm telling everybody. We need to have
them in by but the sooner thebetter because we do need to qualify all
of these signatures ahead of time.So if we can get them in by
you know, early April to midApril, it'll give us a week or
two to see where we're at.And if we need to do a last
minute push all hands effort, wewill know how many we need to gather
and get those returned quickly. Soultimately we're looking to get what may about
(11:35):
eight hundred thousand. Our goal wouldbe eight hundred thousand. I think we
could do it with you know,seven hundred and twenty to seven hundred and
fifty, but you don't know.And this is something that is too valuable
to take lightly. So anybody whoknows us knows we don't leave any stone
unturned and we're going to fight ourhearts out for this. So we're going
for eight hundred. We'll do itwith your help. So what we'll do
(12:01):
to help aside from signing the petition, what are other things that people can
do to help us efarate? Thankyou so much. If you're in a
position to donate, we have asignature gathering effort, you're welcome to go
to www Dot California Safecommunities dot comand donate on the web page. Or
if you're a community leader and youare a part of these community groups,
(12:22):
you can join our fixed forty sevenevent. Thank you so much. This
Sunday, we will have petitions there. You can tell many how many petitions
that you need, or you're morethan welcome to reach out to the party
Chairwoman. Whitstel will communicate with meand we'll be happy to deliver any petitions
that we need. Well, Godbless you in doing this because our community
(12:43):
really needs this. Thank you chairwomanfor your leadership. You've been such a
great partner to us and we needleaders like you that are stepping up to
fight for our communities and you're doingjust that. And we can't tell you
how much we appreciate your leadership andyour effort and your partnership with us on
this. Well, we've got tofight for our communities because there are communities
right that's where we live. Weneed to take them back. Yes,
(13:05):
we do. Thank you for whatyou do because and of course summer Stuffian's
because I'll tell you we are blessedto have have her in San Diego.
We're blessed to have you too.It's an honor to serve. And I
know the district Attorney has the biggestheart for our community and she works tirelessly
these fights, so she blessed tohave her. Yes we are, Yes,
(13:28):
we certainly are. Well. Thankyou for watching this podcast, the
Republican Podcast, and be sure tocatch us on YouTube, and don't leave
it on the table. Go andsign these petitions. We need your help.
We need as many signatures as possibleso we can put this on the
ballot and we can put it beforethe people of California in November. Thank you,