Why California Politics Keeps Failing Working Families

WEBVTT
00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:05.200
The Feudal Future Podcast.
00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:10.720
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Feudal Future Podcast.
00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:12.080
I'm Marshall Toplanski.
00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:13.199
I'm Joel Kotkin.
00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:20.399
And today we are going to be focusing on California's highly effective and performative political environment.
00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:21.920
And we to help us with that.
00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:23.519
That's the first joke of the day.
00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:24.879
First joke of the day.
00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:35.359
And we to help us with that, we have got two wonderful veteran political uh participants and uh and shapers of the environment.
00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:43.359
First is Gloria Romero, who is formerly State Senate Majority Leader and now candidate for lieutenant governor.
00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:44.560
Welcome, Gloria.
00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:45.920
Thank you.
00:00:46.320 --> 00:01:00.240
And we have Jennifer Hernandez, who is senior partner at Holland and Knight and is involved in almost every political issue that's uh currently involved currently at the top of the the uh the mindset of uh California politics.
00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:01.280
Welcome, Jennifer.
00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:02.799
Thanks very much.
00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:04.400
Uh Joel, you want to kick us off?
00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:04.879
Yeah.
00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:09.359
I mean sometimes you you you wonder like why do we even have elections in California?
00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:13.680
It's sort of like the Soviet Union, you know, the Communist Party is gonna win.
00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:22.400
Um It seems to me that the only thing that that is still uncertain is where is the trajectory of Latinos voters?
00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:30.560
Um and uh Gloria, is there anything changing or are are they gonna be automatons like everyone else?
00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:35.359
Well, thank you so much for inviting me to be part of this podcast today.
00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:43.280
And let me start with these numbers, and I think these numbers should really highlight the question you asked, the importance of it.
00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:57.359
So in California today, there are 4,868,365 registered Republicans in California.
00:01:57.519 --> 00:01:59.439
Okay, so almost 5 million.
00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:01.280
Think about this now.
00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:14.240
In the same California registered today Latinos, there are 6,934,383.
00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:25.680
That's almost 2 million more registered Latinos in California than the entire, than the entire Republican uh Party overall.
00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:34.240
And in Los Angeles County, which is really this is you know, if you go to Sacramento, the pathway to Sacramento is really LA County.
00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:39.680
One out of every four voters basically comes out of LA County if and when we vote.
00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:50.000
In LA County in the last election that just passed, uh Republicans 457,022 Republicans voted.
00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:59.199
Latinos, 747,751 Latinos voted in LA County.
00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:03.599
I think it shows the importance of the demographic.
00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:11.520
And if I can just add one more thing, I am running for office um back in 1995.
00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:16.080
That was actually my first ever entrance into the political arena.
00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:18.719
I was a young professor at Cal State LA.
00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:24.960
I was convinced to run for the LA County uh Community College Board of Trustees.
00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:26.960
So I was a Democrat back then.
00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:31.919
I walked into a potential consultant's office to talk about running the campaign.
00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:33.759
This is 1995.
00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.360
I remember him telling me Latinos don't vote.
00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.479
Okay, that was the message I got in 1995.
00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:41.599
Thank you very much.
00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:44.159
I ended up leaving, found a different consultant.
00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:45.520
I won that race.
00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:51.680
Fast forward to last year, to last year, 2025.
00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:59.120
I've been convinced to run for lieutenant governor of the state of California, this time as a Republican.
00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:06.639
I walk into, I won't name the guilty, I walked into talk to somebody, a consultant in Sacramento to work with me.
00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:13.280
This consultant, this time Republican, last year told me Latinos don't vote.
00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:22.000
I was like, you know, Democrat, Republican, do not understand the significance of this vote.
00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:31.199
Now it's one thing to have the numbers, they're definitely there, but it's turnout, it's message, it's a belief from actually both parties.
00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:45.040
And this year, Joel, I think it's going to be interesting because you're going to find high profile Latino candidates in at least three statewide offices running, uh, running for positions.
00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:48.160
So yeah, let's see which way the Latino vote goes.
00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:49.600
I think it's up for grabs.
00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:51.680
It's it's up for grabs and it's changing.
00:04:52.000 --> 00:05:16.879
Well, and you know, one of the one of the themes that our research, which by the way, thank you both for for participating in our our landmark research on the role of Latinos in the uh in the economy, is that Latinos are are stepping up to leadership roles, to um being movers and shakers within the institutions that run our run our uh state?
00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:33.279
Um is what you're saying that that this is just not recognized by the rest of society in in California, that non-Latinos don't understand the role that Latinos are playing?
00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:45.920
Or is it just um uh is it just uh uh separation of arguments, people who are completely disconnected from what's going on?
00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:48.319
I think it's a combination of factors.
00:05:48.480 --> 00:06:08.079
I think one of them is that sort of a pox on both houses, Democrat, Republican, who really have not done enough to really reach out and to support not only Latino candidates, but also to do get out the vote, ballot harvesting, whatever you want to call it, messaging in the Latino community.
00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:11.199
Um, so I think it you know it starts from above.
00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:17.199
I think there has been a negligence, I think there has been a disconnect, sort of all of the above.
00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:27.439
Uh, but I think when candidates and and and campaigns step up and realize this is not a throwaway population, this is not a throwaway community.
00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:40.160
There is just like you would reach out to any quote-unquote high propensity voter when you're running a campaign, there has to be messaging and an understanding of important themes affecting Latinos.
00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:53.600
And I would say so many of them are really issues centered around faith, family freedom uh for the Latino community and the parties and the candidates that best connect with Latino voters in California.
00:06:53.759 --> 00:07:00.079
I'm not necessarily going to say are going to win the election, but are definitely on the pathway to winning the election.
00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:02.879
We are not the little brown ones any longer.
00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.680
You cannot be ignored, cannot be overlooked.
00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:08.160
This is a force to be reckoned with.
00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:11.600
And I think the awakening is happening this year in California.
00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:16.959
Uh I was wondering, uh, Jennifer, because you've been working and you're a lifelong Democrat.
00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:31.839
You you've been working on one of the issues that were not uh uh mentioned earlier, which of course is housing, the environmental policy of the state, which as I think we've shown pretty definitively does not exactly work in the benefit of Latinos.
00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:45.040
Are you seeing in your um conversations with people any idea that maybe something other than party-line democratic voting might be a good strategy?
00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:59.519
You know, Joel, I think um I I think what there is now, even in Sacramento, is a recognition of how little all of the policies over the last seven years have moved the needle.
00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:14.000
When we first declared this generation's housing crisis, which is by the way the third, the first was in 1982, um uh, and and we said, okay, we're gonna do all this stuff, you know, eliminate minimum parking requirements.
00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:15.759
Well, let's see what that does.
00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:45.919
Um, and the answer has been we haven't really been listening to people like Wendell Cox, very distinguished demographer, who says definitively after you know decades of study, that any jurisdiction anywhere in the world that puts the equivalent of an urban limit line around itself, either because it's an island and it runs out of land, or because of policies that say, nope, we're not gonna build another thing on a you know degraded cow pasture next to the freeway.
00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:47.679
Oh, we got to save that too.
00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:49.759
Um, that just drives up cost.
00:08:50.080 --> 00:09:01.279
Um, it is super, super more expensive to build multi-story apartments, uh, much more expensive than to build um two and three-story uh wood-framed homes.
00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:12.080
So, what we've been doing is pursuing these policy objectives in the absence of like, so are we gonna then get more of this or are we not?
00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:18.799
And part of the answer to, in fact, all of the answer to whether we're gonna get more of it is can we afford it?
00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:32.240
And what we keep doing is passing policies that add to costs in very, very minor ways or or more significant ways, reduce regulatory constraints, but add to costs.
00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:35.039
And the fact is we can't afford it.
00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:41.919
Again, from Wendell Cox, median home prices should be about three times median incomes.
00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:45.120
Median incomes round it up,$100,000.
00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:47.600
That's a pretty solid looking income.
00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:52.320
But that means median home prices should be around$300,000,$350,000.
00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:55.600
And it should be for a family home, you know, not a big one.
00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:59.360
Two, three, three bedrooms, maybe one and a half baths.
00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:06.080
Um, but that's what you need for a family, that's what you need for homeownership, that's what you need for the middle class to grow.
00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:10.480
And we just won't produce it, we won't allow it to be produced.
00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:21.600
So the pragmatic, I think, move at the moment is even in Sacramento to recognize we need to build again and we need to build what we can afford again.
00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:28.480
Unfortunately, all the interest groups that have brought us to this day are still very, very powerful.
00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:37.679
And they're still selling the recipe of, you know, go go rent a small one bedroom with no parking and ride the bus, and you'll be happy.
00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:39.759
You'll be happier, trust us.
00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.080
And I don't trust them.
00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:49.440
Um I don't think most people over the age of about 28 trust them, um, unless they're really committed ideologues.
00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:53.600
And so, look, Latinos are pragmatic people.
00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:58.879
We don't have the time to mess around with faculty lounge discussions.
00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:05.679
We have to work, we have to raise the kids, the kids have to get an education, and we got the grandkids.
00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.679
I mean, we don't have the time to mess around with what doesn't work.
00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:21.279
So I think the age of the Latinos, and I would maybe contribute COVID into this mix, Gloria, um uh, has been an awakening of wait a minute, this isn't working.
00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:22.639
The kids can't read.
00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:24.320
They can read in Texas and Florida.
00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:25.919
Why can't they read here?
00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:31.679
Wait a minute, you know, we're our houses are nine times higher than median income and going to 10.
00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:32.799
That's ridiculous.
00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:35.120
That's not that's not necessary.
00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:39.679
Those are policy choices that people made without us in mind.
00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:51.120
And I think it's now time, and I think it's starting to happen, that Latinos, and frankly, everyone else over the age of about 28 is waking up and saying, we need to get back to stuff that actually works.
00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:53.600
Well, they're not not just they're not just waking up.
00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:56.159
They're not just waking up.
00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:57.279
They're pissed off.
00:11:57.679 --> 00:11:58.240
Really pissed off.
00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:09.519
People are very, very annoyed at the at the ingrained intransigence of the policymakers that have come before us.
00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:13.120
So that get brings us back to Gloria's uh original question.
00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:15.440
I'd love to get both of your feeling on this.
00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:19.440
Are Latinos more pissed off than everybody else?
00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:28.240
And will it show up in a rejection of Democratic candidates in the upcoming election?
00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:34.159
I don't think it's a blanket one on yes or no answer.
00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:36.639
Um, I I agree with Jennifer.
00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:43.440
I think that there is a much more concerted engagement because there's more of us, there's a lot of issues there.
00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:47.759
I think Latinos to a large extent are somewhat, you know, pissed off.
00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:49.519
Like, don't call us Latinx.
00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:51.600
We're not birthing people.
00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:57.279
I mean, mothers are very, you know, very powerful in Latino families and culture.
00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:02.559
And don't go call your Avilita a birthday, happy birthing day.
00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:06.799
I think we're not gestational parents like they're calling them in New York, right?
00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:08.159
So these are values.
00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:16.720
Don't take away our gas stoves in the name of climate change because you can't toast a tortilla in a microwave or on an electric range.
00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:19.919
I mean, so there's a lot of things there, as Jennifer points out too.
00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:22.320
We're not going to be riding a bicycle.
00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:24.720
We don't, we're not pushing for bike lanes.
00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:28.320
We've got families, we've got children, we've got babies.
00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:36.480
I mean, it's hard enough to push a stroller down a sidewalk, much less trying to ride a bike with, you know, maybe two kids and a baby with you.
00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:42.960
So all of these things, all these so-called environmental policies, they're like, eh, who's leading this?
00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:45.360
So what will Latinos do?
00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:46.320
Again, too.
00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:52.480
I think there's going to be a big push because I mean, let's face it, for governor, you do.
00:13:52.639 --> 00:14:02.879
I'm supporting Steve Hilton on the Republican ticket, but Javier Bissetta is the candidate who, because of the scandals of others, came up.
00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:05.120
So he is the candidate now.
00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:15.039
And I think a lot of people, including the Democrat Party, first of all, did nothing to assist a Latino candidate and are somewhat surprised we've got a Latino candidate now.
00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:17.600
So there's going to be a surge of activity.
00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:20.320
You know, as a Latino, I will say, you know what?
00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:24.720
I feel pride when I see somebody rising to these ranks.
00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:31.360
I mean, it's great, but I don't vote just on one's ethnic origin or their uh, you know, what their identity is.
00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:34.240
I mean, that's ridiculous to do something like that.
00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:36.320
But there will be a push on pride.
00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:40.799
You're gonna see, let's elect the first Latino modern day governor.
00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:48.799
Uh, the first governor actually was Latino was a Republican governor way back when, but this would be the first modern day Latino governor.
00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:52.240
So there's gonna be the push on that, but I would still go back to it.
00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:57.360
The most important thing is not pushing on anger, but really on again to what works.
00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:59.360
I agree with Jennifer completely.
00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:01.519
Latinos are very pragmatic.
00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:02.559
This is what works.
00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:04.480
We put our families first.
00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:08.480
We are hardworking, we believe in law and order.
00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:12.480
Latinos are largely a very patriotic community.
00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:24.240
We do not want to see uh open borders, we do want to see fair immigration policies and procedures, we want to see the criminals locked up.
00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:27.120
We want fairness, though, in our laws.
00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:45.840
And so I think the best thing is going to be really is will the parties, will the candidates reach out to Latinos as not as a balkanized group, but really these are some of the most pragmatic voters in California who have had it with the old ways and are willing to look for differences.
00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:47.759
You know, the door is open.
00:15:47.919 --> 00:16:03.759
I've gone up and down the state of California, the Central Valley, you know, San Diego, inland empire, and Latinos, yeah, we say the Latino agenda, it's the American agenda, but you know, with a little bit more umph because we need it, we need it now.
00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:13.679
Uh, you know, I'm wondering, um, uh and this may come as a bit of a surprise, is what about the the DSA, the Democratic Socialist America?
00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:25.360
They seem to be becoming the dominant force, um, certainly in the new in new in parts of New York, particularly in heavily Latino districts, although Latinos didn't necessarily vote for those candidates.
00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:32.320
Um you get any sense that Latinos are being attracted to the DSA and its message?
00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:36.720
Because I mean they seem to be the ascendant power of the Democratic Party.
00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:43.200
Yeah, so I think Gloria is probably the best to handle this question as well.
00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:57.200
Um I will note that the demographics of DSA align with the demographics of, you know, ride the bus and spend most of your income renting a one-bedroom house without a one-bedroom apartment uh down a hallway.
00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:14.319
Um and look, I think we have really created a catastrophe with younger Californians who are undereducated and in debt because they've been in school forever without learning as much as they had a right to learn.
00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:18.559
Um and their job prospects are tough.
00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:24.400
They didn't really have as much access to entry-level jobs because we started, you know, automating.
00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:34.000
And so that first job, you know, flipping hamburgers, which is what I had, um, uh, there just aren't as many kids employed in those in those places anymore.
00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:40.079
Um so look, I understand they're they're pissed off and they have a right to be.
00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:53.440
But the answer isn't communism, uh, isn't a promise of socialism where even more money gets fundled into the same institutions that have created what we are today.
00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:58.160
You wouldn't pour more money into a losing proposition.
00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:06.079
And I think the democratic socialist answer is just give us more money and trust us we'll do it better this time.
00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:14.799
And I just don't think we've got any pragmatic reason to believe that that's going to turn out the way they promise.
00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:24.480
Um, and you know, Los Angeles, I think, is the city of Los Angeles is experiencing that um uh very vividly from you know from my perspective.
00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:31.599
Well, you know, let me let me bring up a point though, and I'd love to get both of your uh points of view on this.
00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:46.160
I think we all grew up, and I I'll you know, guilty, it's charged here, uh, thinking that in the government is actually does a good job at the end of the day of allocating resources to get things done.
00:18:46.319 --> 00:19:00.720
Because we came out of that FDR New Deal aura where you know the government was able to be proactive and and put the the society back together obviously that's changed, right?
00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:02.400
Obviously that's changed.
00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:22.079
What would uh what would make a young person believe that anybody would do a better that any any governmental group, whether it's a democrat party or whether it's the Republican Party, any political group could do a good job.
00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:30.079
Aren't they just uh turned off to any kind of government institution uh playing the role of allocating resources?
00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:35.119
Gloria, you want to take that one?
00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:36.160
Okay.
00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:43.279
Um again to it's define young people as well, because I think you're gonna find schisms overall.
00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:47.920
Um uh again to college educated, non-college educated.
00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:55.519
And again, when we look at the at the Latino community as well, the vast majority are not in college, are not college educated.
00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.880
So I think we have to take a look at that schism as well.
00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:12.160
But overall, as at least what I believe is that Latinos are looking for a for, I mean, affordability, home ownership, a good job.
00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:15.200
I mean, pathways to the American dream.
00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:21.599
Young people are still very entrepreneurial, they appreciate the rich and the famous.
00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:22.880
I mean, it's against you.
00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:24.559
I want that piece of the pie.
00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.039
Uh, and that's not looking to socialism.
00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:33.279
On the same, by the same token, though, I think they understand many are saying it's very difficult to get there.
00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:35.440
The economy is not the best for them.
00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:40.079
I think it is turning around, it is getting better, but most are renters.
00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:43.519
Uh, many again too might be bus riders.
00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:48.960
Um, but looking at how do I just get my peace and then some.
00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:58.480
I think that what we have to do with young people is think about uh the most important issue, uh, education.
00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:18.400
And as Jennifer pointed out, basically, if we look at education in California, it's failing every which way, not only in terms of achieving educational proficiency in reading and doing math and being able to enter into a college system, but even with your education, what kind of a job can you land?
00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:21.200
Because there have been so many changes in the workforce.
00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:43.839
I think good jobs is a major issue and bringing back career technology, bringing back workforce education, bringing back respect for uh working with your hands, blue-collar jobs, uh, that's very vital for a continuing economy and not denigrating it as if you're not quote unquote college educated, then you're nobody.
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:45.759
So I think that's going to be very important.
00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:48.720
And then a pathway to some form of home ownership.
00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:58.559
But if you don't have the education and the training and the jobs, you're never going to get to the home that uh that Jennifer described uh earlier, which is what we want to get.
00:21:58.640 --> 00:21:59.759
So it's all inclusive.
00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:04.240
I think, but there is a way to reach to reach young people.
00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:12.000
And there's a desire to participate in this economy, not necessarily to create something different.
00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:13.440
I would agree.
00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:14.640
Yeah, go ahead.
00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:16.960
Yeah, I would totally agree.
00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:22.240
I think, you know, I split between LA and Berkeley.
00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:39.920
And Berkeley gives me a very, I think, high level of insight into the arrogance of the highly educated and their sense of utter superiority in terms of, you know, their judgment is right and everyone else is wrong.
00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:54.720
You don't get too far away from Berkeley, the city, before you realize that, you know, there's a lot of people who simply have recognized, have been, it's been demonstrated that those kinds of ideas haven't worked very well.
00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:59.359
Or as my dad used to say, for being so smart, you sure can be stupid sometimes.
00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:16.480
I think the state has recognized, and I do have uh confidence that a lot of young people who are not DSA affiliated, um, and there is a high correlation between college uh attendance and DSA membership.
00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:18.480
It's a it's a it's a demographic slice.
00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:21.920
It's making a lot of noise, it's very organized, it's sophisticated.
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:27.920
Um, but like any other interest group, their power uh ebbs and flows.
00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:37.519
What hasn't ebbed and flowed so much in California is I think if you ask people on the street, hey, is the air quality in Los Angeles dangerous?
00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:45.039
And people would maybe say, I don't know, or oh yes, they wouldn't say, no, it's actually okay.
00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:51.359
No one would say that because we now have this sense that, you know, the environment is poisoning us.
00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:52.720
In fact, U.S.
00:23:53.039 --> 00:24:02.799
mortality rates, which used to be in the 60s, not too long ago, are now up to 79, 79 years old is when people die in the United States on average.
00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:04.319
In LA, it's 80.
00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:10.559
You know, if we were breathing bad air, we would not have a longer life expectancy than the rest of the country.
00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:15.759
And I know that's a really gross cut at complicated data.
00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:41.519
But if you have air that everyone is breathing unambiguously, and for example, around the Richmond Refinery in Northern California, there are two horribly disadvantaged neighborhoods: poor, crime, low educational attainment, very high population that doesn't speak English as a first language, terrible, really challenging neighborhoods.
00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:48.240
And then the third neighborhood next to the refinery is the wealthiest in all of Richmond.
00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:49.759
So what do we do?
00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:56.400
We look around, and I represented the city of Richmond some years ago in deciding whether or not to allow the refinery to modernize.
00:24:56.559 --> 00:25:08.240
And we did ground-level air quality studies under the supervision of the air quality management expert agency, and we showed that the air was the same.
00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:11.359
All three neighborhoods were breathing the same air.
00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:12.319
Big surprise.
00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:15.440
But what wasn't the same was wealth.
00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:20.880
What wasn't the same was home ownership, educational achievement.
00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:23.759
Those are much more urgent problems.
00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:29.680
But instead, it's so easy to organize and find a villain, right?
00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:31.599
Oh, who's who's evil here?
00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:35.279
Uh oh, it's the corporations, oh, it's the polluters, oh, it's the whatever.
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:45.759
No, it's the fact that we won't recognize that the systems ab government that we put in place to help people with education and health and housing have failed.
00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:51.279
And the failure is then calling, I think, for a more pragmatic response.
00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:53.359
And and it's time for that.
00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:55.440
And to me, that's not a partisan agenda.
00:25:55.519 --> 00:26:00.799
That's kind of a builder versus blocker, the status quo versus the let's move on.
00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:04.880
Um, let's get away from baby boom ossification and move on.
00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:06.880
And uh it is time to move on.
00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:10.400
And I'm hopeful the Latinos will actually lead the charge.
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:16.160
Well, um, so as we look ahead, um, because this has been a very fascinating discussion.
00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:18.240
What do you think is going to happen?
00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:24.880
Will there be anything we'll take out of this election in 2026 and say something is changing?
00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:33.680
Um I mean I I saw a couple things, some tax uh measures in LA w were um had greater opposition.
00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:37.359
Um but uh and obviously they got the DEA.
00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:42.640
But is there any sense that out of this election we're gonna see any sense of movement?
00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:45.599
I would like to just sort of end on that note.
00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:47.440
Where are we going next?
00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:49.920
Um I don't know, Gloria, you want to start?
00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:58.480
There's so much to see, but it's hard to predict and explain what we're seeing, I think.
00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:08.079
Um it's been a fascinating year overall, and to some extent, there are both contradictions and also clarifications.
00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:22.799
I think at the end of the day, come November, a month after November, when they finish counting the votes, let's say, I think we may see uh a truly a dramatic statement from the people that we want voter ID.
00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:24.559
And that's across the board.
00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:29.599
That's Republican, Democrat, independent, it's every ethnic group as well.
00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:31.279
So I think that's very powerful.
00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:41.200
And I think what that speaks to, irrespective of even the candidates themselves, I think people are understanding that elections, they're not working.
00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:45.759
I mean, we talk about candidates, we talk about outcomes, but I've always been very interested.
00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:51.200
I know you guys have as well, is just the political machines themselves and how they function.
00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:57.359
I mean, the laws that have been written, ballot harvesting and what you know, what we've seen going on, counting forever.
00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:02.319
You can send in a ballot eight days plus, a postmark isn't even a postmark anymore.
00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:05.599
It's uh, it's uh, I this I sent it on this date.
00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:09.680
And the voter ID initiative won't resolve all these issues.
00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:10.400
And the U.S.
00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:15.680
Supreme Court left things a bit you know unclear, leaving it back up to the states.
00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:21.599
But voter ID, I think, is important because I think it's at the center of who is entitled to vote.
00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:35.599
Even that measure that was put forth by uh in the city of LA to say, well, we're gonna have the people of LA vote on this measure for non-citizens to vote, that was pulled back almost immediately.
00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:44.000
And that was, according to my sources, basically because there were complaints, especially from the African-American community.
00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:45.200
What are you doing?
00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:49.359
And that thing was hauled off real fast, and we're not talking about it.
00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:57.680
But 10 of the city council members put it on, 10 out of sync, out, I mean, they're being pushed by the far left.
00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:02.240
So that's, I mean, so there's so much about the politics, the machinery itself.
00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:14.400
But I think at the center of this is people are thinking about the structure, and I think very astutely understanding we have a lot of problems because this system isn't working.
00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:16.559
It's not even about the politics yet.
00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:19.039
The system itself is messed up.
00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:20.960
You know, get some voter ID.
00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:23.519
What does election day mean, even?
00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:25.200
Who can cast a vote?
00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:26.880
Doesn't citizenship matter?
00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:28.880
So I think that will come out of this race.
00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:44.240
And I think in the Spencer Pratt race as well, he lost, but we saw on video uh the the asking of uh, especially homeless in Skid Row, giving them two or five dollars each, will you sign for this?
00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:52.400
So there's, I think people are onto this system, and I'm glad that there's gonna be more scrutiny that will take time, but that's a central issue in November.
00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:57.039
Then going from there as well, everybody's wondering, okay, what will happen?
00:29:57.200 --> 00:29:59.119
Do Republicans have a chance?
00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:00.640
I hear both ways.
00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:03.039
I uh I go to, I go up and down the state.
00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:05.519
I've been told you've got a great opportunity.
00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:10.000
I hear also point blank, there's no way any Republican can win.
00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:12.480
So we hear it all, we keep campaigning.
00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:22.880
I think that we've got to, we've got to maintain putting out this agenda that we don't just need to accept 16 years of one party rule.
00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:29.119
Again, the machinery of the state that just reproduces itself even when it's failing.
00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:33.599
So I think it's a sophisticated citizenship, whatever the outcome may be.
00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:48.400
And I am hopeful, I still remain hopeful, this is a the best opportunity we have if we, to use those famous words, make it too big to rig, get a turnout, because midterms are about turnout.
00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:50.720
But that goes back to my original comment.
00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:54.079
You've got to motivate, you've got to reach out to the voters.
00:30:54.319 --> 00:31:05.920
And in this, in this general, Latinos are a prime category to turning out a vote on these issues that we think are reflective of the needs of California.
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:13.519
So I'm curious what you think, Jennifer and others, but I I'm very hopeful for the messages coming out of November.
00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:24.960
Well, you know, I think uh uh you're pointing out the voter idea initiative is a really good point because people tend to focus on the candidates.
00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:31.119
But in California, the initiatives also tell, I think, a very important election story.
00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:39.759
And I'll focus for a minute on Prop 45, which is uh an initiative to mend the California Environmental Quality Act.
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:43.279
Still need to do environmental studies, you can still sue.
00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:46.720
Uh, but you got to be in and done in a couple of years.
00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:53.039
None of these like 10-year studies, none of these 30 years of lawsuits.
00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:57.680
Playa Vista was sued, and this was a manufacturing site, right?
00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:02.480
The Playa Vista uh development now was sued more than 20 times.
00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:09.920
Had they been able to put those condos up when it was first approved, uh, they would have cost less than$200,000 a piece.
00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:12.720
Now they're like over$800,000.
00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:21.200
Good job, lawyers and advocates and NIMBY neighbors in making housing unaffordable.
00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:21.680
Why?
00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:22.799
Because you held it up.
00:32:22.960 --> 00:32:27.119
They even had to they ended up bankrupting one of the savings and loans.
00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:32.079
It was a loan uh uh that that uh helped finance the whole project.
00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:33.519
It was unbelievable.
00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:36.640
That kind of procedural abuse.
00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:43.440
One of my uh law school colleagues or our law school professors um calls it a procedural fetishism.
00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:57.680
You know, I've never met a process I couldn't elongate, more community engagement, more uh hearings, more litigation, and then let's do another round or three or four as the build-out proceeds.
00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:00.000
Who benefits from that?
00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:06.799
Agency staff who have a secure taxpayer-funded job, lawyers, yay! Really?
00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:10.640
We're like set up to help lawyers and consultants who do the study.
00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:11.839
That's ridiculous.
00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:25.839
So Prop 45 says after a lot of polling, people want affordable, reliable public services, housing, educational facilities, medical facilities, transmission lines, and renewable energy.
00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:31.680
I mean, we we we can't continue to have a state that doesn't work.
00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:39.279
So build an affordable California for essential projects by eliminating excess process.
00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:44.240
That to me is a very straightforward proposition.
00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:53.200
Because, you know, my family, UF uh AFL, CIO family, steel workers, Pittsburgh, California, still uh brother and and nephews in the unions.
00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:55.279
And it's not working.
00:33:55.519 --> 00:34:01.519
Gas is too expensive, housing is too expensive, medical care is too expensive, the lights go out.
00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:23.119
I mean, even if from a totally sort of democratic aligned base, when the state doesn't work for members, then some of the traditional more leadership alliances where you know we'll give you endless process, environmental advocates, environment advocates, and in exchange you support us.
00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:30.400
That has failed people, and more importantly, in the Latino community, it has failed our children.
00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:36.719
And that to me is an opportunity for voters to say, basta, enough.
00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:39.760
Enough.
00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:41.679
And and let's fix it, right?
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:43.119
I think it works in Spanish too.
00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:59.599
Well, you know, what uh what we're hearing from both of you is that we may be on the cusp of serious, uh legitimate structural change and that it is very, very overdue.
00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:11.760
And let's hope that you know what you're talking about, what we're all talking about today, comes to pass, because obviously we can't continue going down the same road and expect to have a positive outcome.
00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:22.000
Jennifer and Gloria, thank you so much for uh talking to us about this topic, and we wish you the best.
00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:24.400
Gloria, good luck with your campaign.
00:35:24.719 --> 00:35:28.239
And thank you both for being part of the Feudal Future Podcast.
00:35:28.880 --> 00:35:33.519
The Feudal Future Podcast.