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Speaker 1: This is Monks and maryl hosted by Michael Monks and Chris Merrill. This is Monks and Merrill.
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Speaker 2: Fuck demand.
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Speaker 1: Make sure you subscribe to that podcast in the iHeartRadio. But it is the fastest growing podcast of the KFI lineup. Did you know that? Now it's true? Tell me more that there's actually no more to add? Okay, yeah. You can also follow us on social media at Monks and Merrill at Monks and Merril. And I wanted to bring something else up here, Michael that if you are paying taxes in Huntington Beach fifty thousand dollars a month, are is being washed away? Why? Said, Well, you're going to find out about that. But it wouldn't be a tease if I paid off on it right away. In the meantime, the number of people weighing in on Deborah's skating rink from the now we triggered to memory eighties. Yes, because Deborah would wear the sassoon Jordan Ash. Did you have guests at the time, No, I didn't have. No, I had cimend affairs. Did you use white rain hairspray? No, I don't remember what hairspray, but Shamanda fars or Shamanda firs. Now I can't remember how to say it, sassoon and jordash and ditto jeans as well. Its you. Yeah, I was of the era of bugle boy jeans. Are those bugle boy jeans you're wearing?
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Speaker 2: Why?
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Speaker 1: Yes they are? Okay, thank you, that's done. That's it. And then from the talkbacks, Deborah, you are you are keen in on some foundational memories for people?
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Speaker 3: Oood, Deborah.
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Speaker 1: My spot was the Moonlight skating rink in Pasadena.
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Speaker 3: It was so much fun. I don't know what it is now.
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Speaker 1: It had turned into like a store, but I don't know anymore. Oh okay, bye bye. Yeah, because Deborah's place turned into a homeless shelter. Yeah, that's sad. I want to go roller skating now I'm gonna have to find a place this weekend. My hometown skating rink just hit the market. We could all go in together. Now it's in. So it's funny you say that because mine did too. No way. Yeah, it's been I think three years, but I don't know if they sold it. It was a it was a skating rink, a bar, and a club and it was a complete dump I absolute trash. I guessed a girl for the first time at that skating rink as the love theme from Prince of Themes played in the background. I learned a lot about myself that day. Did you Chila or anything? A couple years later, I bet she did.
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Speaker 2: You know, as a kid, I might have seen the re marks on that roller rink because I would always there come Saturday, all day I was there at that roller ring. My parents would just dropped bus off there. Back then you could do that.
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Speaker 1: Do you recognize this voice? Ever?
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Speaker 2: No, I this day all day in the roller ring, skating, eating and having fun.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. And one more theme.
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Speaker 2: I remember when uh uh a song from Billy Squire's Strokeman will come on.
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Speaker 1: Everybody was blowing bay have a good one? Ever kissed? Ah? Yeah, I'm sure I not that song. It was the love song from Robinhood Prince of Thieves. My everything I do, I do it for you? Yeah, Richard Marks right? No? Oh, Billy U sorry? Brian Adams, Yes, yeah, there we go. Sorry. Yeah, I have to. I have to bear these stories of my wife too. She's like, oh, we just go to the roller rink and I used to just make out with boys like, I don't need to hear this well about disco nights. There was disco night that was so much fun. That sounds like fun. It was so Yeah, it's great memories, very good. In the meantime, let's let's talk about some not so fun memories. Huntington Beach says they don't want to build more affordable housing and you can't make them, and the courts say, yeah, actually, I think you're gonna go ahead and make it. Huntington Beach has been a thorn in the side of the Democratic leadership in Sacramento for a lot of issues, and they have gone head to head and he Huntington Beach has come out on the losing side. They've come out on the winning side a couple of times, but they've come in on the losing side. This is them on the losing side here. Huntington Beach has said, look, the mandates coming out of Sacramento about how much housing we're supposed to build, they don't apply to Huntington Beach, not the same way they do to charter cities. But courts don't buy it. And now a judge in San Diego has ordered the city to pay penalties until it adopts the state approved housing plan. Hunting of Beach is no, no, no, They're basically using the sovereign citizen argument against the state. They're like, I'm not I don't need a driver's license. I'm not a driver. I am a traveler. Shut up, Just pay the fine. You know, I don't mean to have insurance because that's not required because I do not acknowledge the laws of the United States. In order for me to have the laws applied, I must acknowledge that the laws exist, and I do not stop it. That's not how it works. Huntington Beach is doing the same thing. The state laws don't apply to us because we are not a part of the state. We are our own sovereign city.
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Speaker 4: No, you're not.
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Speaker 1: It is interesting that what a waste of time and money there. You hear criticism even from leaders in the City of Los Angeles, sing especially related to Senate Bill seventy nine, that transit housing policy that allows Yeah, they're like, I don't think Sacramento should be dictating to us how we zone and do housing. But Ali doesn't have a problem with Sacramento dictating to Huntington Beach to build more. Well, I just find it curious that whatever action Huntington Beach is taken has led to this court decision because basically, Huntington Beach has to pay one hundred and sixty thousand dollars in civil penalties I guess right away, ten thousand dollars a month from January of last year, when they were supposed to be allowing for affordable housing to be built, Huntington Beach said no, no, no, we're Brigadoon. We only allow people in when we want to, and we will not build additional housing. That was a nice reference, brigadoone. Yeah, that's your second Broadway reference today, by the way. The other one was before we went on air. So yeah, ethel Merman, okay, sorry. Fifty thousand dollars a month on top of that, starting next month in June, until Huntington Beach comes back a sortable housing plan. Yeah yeah, And of course they're not very happy about that. But that also means for other places that are fighting things like the Senate Bill seventy nine that says, let's build a housing near transit and increased density around transit stops. The courts have spoken, you're going to have to comply. That's the state law. You might not like it, but that's the state law. In the meantime, I did tease this, we will pay it off. And that is that MacArthur Park is getting cleaned up because Mayor Bass said, so, oh yeah, we're going to do that. That's coming up. And by the way, there are some houses available. They're called condos, and more and more of them are apparently available because no one's biting. Why is no one buying condos right now? That's next. You're listening to Monks and Merrill on demand from KFI AM six forty more stimulating talk. So the mayor is cleaning up MacArthur Park? Are we doing that here? Yeah? Tell me more? Okay. So KTLA was following up on what they had going on. I heard Timmy talking about this too. I was like, there it is. We fixed homeless miss MacArthur Park. You, my friend, when you get home, maybe take a little trip go enjoy MacArthur Park. I dude, it's clean though that smart manages a restaurant near it. Perf there almost every clean. It's not spotless cleaned.
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Speaker 3: The volatile sights and sounds of MacArthur Park. We're just walking down the sidewalk and spark tension without ward.
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Speaker 1: I love it when they're yelling at the guy for me, you don't have permission to film me, but I have permission to do all the drugs in the world next to this illegally placed tent. That's what they should say. It's like, I'm sorry. This is an open air camera market.
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Speaker 3: And a broad daylight.
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Speaker 1: Beat to the ground, bug fights.
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Speaker 3: What's known as the fetanyl fold. Impossible to miss the open drug use in plain sight, and needles scattered all over.
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Speaker 4: Fix up.
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Speaker 1: They were violent venom victim looking look at the the vocabulary it described how morono.
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Speaker 3: At six for William Howard crommedy.
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Speaker 1: Okay, skip ahead because this is you get it. It's bad.
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Speaker 3: Then days later lapd here for more arrest seizing fetanyl pills and cash. Despite everything going on in this area, the bus stop right here six and all Marona was taken away. Apparently the homeless were using it as a shelter.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, they took away the bus stop, so there's no shelter there anymore people sleeping there, especially for me, got rid of it.
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Speaker 3: About the seconds where a bench used to be Angela Robinson now waits for the bus standing six months pregnant, a bench now missing in a community desperate for relief, Wessing bench and despite recent arrest. Many say, when the sun goes down, the problems come right back.
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Speaker 1: You noticed it different since then, No, because the same rats come out in nine oh dear.
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Speaker 3: A spokesperson for Mayor Karen bat tells us one bench was removed for maintenance, another for public safety reasons. They say, this is one small example of the mayor's broad and comprehensive approach to finally improving public safety MacArthur Park, a problem that's been decades in the making.
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Speaker 1: Part of her broad and comprehensive approach is removing one bench. Offensive. Let's take away something that people need. A pregnant lady who has to catch the bus there. Removing a bench from MacArthur Park is part of the broad and comprehensive Why don't they remove the drug addicts? What are you talking about? A bench just too good?
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Speaker 3: This is too rich, They say, this is one small example of the mayor's broad and comprehensive approach to finally improving public safety MacArthur Park.
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Speaker 1: It is laughable offense. It's it's embarrassing that the policy choices have allowed this beautiful park to look the way that it does, and the remedies are so laughable and offensive to anyone with a brain. Tokay bench out, and it's part of her broad and comprehensive strategy to report into now. I mean, I don't even know how the how these spokespeople sleep writing statements like that knowing that they are factually incorrect. Is it a game that they play. Let's let's say that, folks, people are clever, the dumbest thing we are in the media. We have to deal with these people all the time to get a statement. I mean, there are some crafty ones. I don't like statements crafted by communication people that ignore the question and kind of go into an attack mode or ridiculous spin. I don't even appreciate it as a skill. Frankly, like you have to answer to the public for what you've done. You don't get to write the story. The story is unfolding before people's eyes. I mean, that's why cobots called him spokes holes for the longest time, because he knows exactly what you're saying. I mean, it's that's what we deal with that it's your fault as a journalist asking the question, Hey, Mayor Bass, why isn't the homeless problem at the MacArthur Park gotten any better? How dare you ask me that question? We have a comprehensive strategy. So we took the bus bench away. So now pregnant lady who actually contributes to society but clearly going to work, has to stand there with nowhere to sit, because we allow this homeless and drug addicted population to overrun every piece of the public realm comprehensive strategy. So why don't they just get a place to live, Michael Monks, They could condo. Plenty of condos available. I was browsing Zillo this week to see what the condo market looked like in downtown LA, because you know, that's my other plan. If a Hancock Park doesn't work out, then I'll just stay downtown. But I'd like to own something at some point. And here there's a bench that may be available at a low cost. I'll put it right in the kitchen. This market in downtown LA, you can It's like one of the few places in Los Angeles County where you can get a two bedroom room home for six hundred thousand dollars and they're nice. I mean, the condos downtown are nice. We know the environment is terrible because we have comprehensive approaches to homelessness that are obviously saying.
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Speaker 3: This is one small example of the Mayor's broad and comprehensive approach to finally improving public safety.
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Speaker 1: If you're twenty floors up, you can't really smell the pile of human feces. You're far enough away, okay, And it's nice. You've got a good view, a good vive, keep it down, maybe a rooftop. It's it's really interesting to see what's available. Here's where they get you. Yeah, here's where they get you, Chris. When you're looking at I'm looking at these, I'm like, I could get into a house for four ninety nine, four hundred ninety nine thousand dollars, Like, oh yeah, I have a two bedroom, two bath condo in downtown Los Angeles. And then you look at the hoa oh oh, and that go on is often thirteen fourteen hundred dollars on top of your mortgage. So I think that scares a lot of people. But what we we have seen is La County condo prices have fallen four and a half percent in February compared to a year earlier, where a single family home price is only fell one point six That's significant four and a half percent, And I think the HOA situation has a lot to do with it. I do too. Now. It may just be that it's all loaded in the HOA and you see this big price, But if you break it down to what the HOA covers, are you getting your money's worth for it? Would you be spending that much anyway on things like insurance, gym membership, any of that stuff that might be included. So one of the big issues that I have with maintenance with the hoas is that if you break it down, you go, Okay, I can get this placed in downtown LA for five hundred thousand, but my HOA is going to be nearly as much as my mortgage, right Yeah, But if I didn't have the HOA, then I'd be paying twice as much in my mortgage. The different is you have some equity in the home itself. You get no equity out of the hoas. And so that's where I have problems with with Pango's exorbitant HOA fees, because what do I get out of that not just the services that you're talking about, but I have to be able to go to the bank and say, look, I can make my mortgage payment, I can't make my HOA payment. Yeah, here's what I just found on Eleventh Street. Five hundred and fifty thousand dollars, two bedroom, two bath, fourteen hundred square feet. Looks like a decent place. Hoa's fourteen hundred and seventy three dollars a month. And what's the estimated mortgage Just shy six thousands. Yeah, okay, so I mean that is that's not that's a lot to ask. But again, you are now a homeowner, so you have the investment. But would you be spending that much or is that HOA inflated? Oh I'm sure it's inflated.
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Speaker 2: Now.
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Speaker 1: You if you're talking about downtown specifically, you're more than likely in a building a building. If you're in a condo, it's a building, that's what we're talking about. Condos are available, yes, in skyscraper, So in your downtowns you've got security on site. So that's that's one expense that you're paying for and that may not apply to you, know, your single family home out somewhere you don't have a gate with a guard. And this is gonna But does it include your insurance or does it not? Does it include h Does it have a nice gym facility? It does have a gym, I just looked that. Does it have a swimming pool? Does it have things that you would do just have some of those paying to use elsewhere that it might ultimately make sense. Fourteen hundred dollars, there's an awful lot of money. That's a whole lot more you're gonna pay for a YMC membership and in a place of twenty four to seven fitness or whatever. And I live in a place that is part apartment buildings and part condo and we share the amenities, and amenities are fine, but I kind of feel bad for the people in the in the condos who are paying directly the HOA fees for the dull And it's made me question a lot of these hoa which is why condos are not It's one of the reasons that condos are not selling. There are few other reasons. We'll get into those here in just a few moments. And well, they may be asking you the quarter million dollars a month for one place that you can write forget about your hoa. How about you just pay your rental quarter million a month. We call that monks money. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left searching in the interwebs to make sure that we aren't sending a lease with a slumlord, how to protect yourself from years of headaches, and why you may still want to avoid buying that condo. All next, Monks and Meryl Kfi I AM six forty, We're live everywhere in the iHeart Radio app.
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Speaker 2: You're listening to Monks and Merrill on demand from KFI AM six.
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Speaker 1: Monks and Meryl kfi AM six forty more stimulating talk and on the podcast the iHeart Radio app. Make sure you smash that subscribe button. Smash it, don't hurt it. And then when you're on the socials, you'll find us at Monks and Merrill. At Monks and Merrill. Did you you know we were talking about condos being available and you were saying, well, the hoas are too stink and high. You know, I was thinking about something else too, because as I was reading this article, I saw comment online and they said, builders are still building. We keep talking about a shortage of things. They go builders are still building and if there were more condos available, that would end up bringing the prices down even further, and it might make them reconsider some of the ha the management companies and things like that. Maybe they reconsider how much do we really need to make in those hwa because for a lot of the has it's a money making scheme. I'm convinced of that, But then somebody may mention they said, oh, they're still building going on, but they won't build condos. They're only building apartments because the money is there in the apartments for the builders. Yeah, so they're really looking at that and they're going, we can make more money if we build apartments and then rent them out than we can if we build these condos. They just don't the margins aren't there. There's one other thing I was thinking, and that is have you read these stories about how gen Z is delaying some of the life milestones like getting married? Yeah? Sure, yeah. So if you're not married, where you're trying to go it alone, or are you're living with a roommate and at some point the roommate's going to ski down a on you because they're gonna it's transitional, right, roommates are by definition, transitional marriage means you're both in at it together. So it is a whole lot easier to buy a house with two people than it is with one person. Yeah, or to buy a condo. And so as gen Z starts delaying these things, I was seeing that the average what is the average age or the number of people? I got it, the number of people under a certain age was something ridiculously low. Yeah, young adults own just eleven percent of condos of home excuse me in Los Angeles, Orange County, just eleven percent for young adults. That's one of the lowest numbers you're ever going to see. And why is that? Part of the reason, not only cost, but part of the reason is they're delaying some of these milestones like getting married. Yeah, two incomes help when it comes time to buy something, no doubt about it, to qualify for certain mortgages. But cost is the biggest one here, no doubt about it. I mean, the average cost of a house an Orange agree, over a million dollars? Agree, average cost in Los Angeles County is right around nine hundred thousands. Agree. But even if that was half the price at five hundred thousand, I would have trouble buying a five hundred thousand dollars home on my own. My wife and I together, we could do that. Yeah, and we're both professionals with decent jobs. Yes, yeah, but if you were in a different part of the country, you would be able to afford. Well, five hundred thousand dollars is five hundred thousand dollars regardless of No. No, I mean, I'm saying, even if the prices were half of what they are, you would not be able to afford to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars house by yourself. We could. But if I'm buying a five hundred thousand dollars house wherever that is. Quit arguing with me. It's matter with you. Why do you like this? I think younger people would make investments in real estate even if they were single, because it is a smart investment. If it were its game. I just can't even do it. Yeah, and I just not I agree. Quit arguing with me. I'm not arguing at the same point. I'm not the worst. I'm not. Hey, you ever have a bad n a bad landlord? Way back in the day, I had a bad one, did you.
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Speaker 4: Yeah?
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Speaker 1: We didn't. We didn't do well. Did here to shar you get personal on this or what well? I saw and it was like one of my first apartments by myself, and you know I love old buildings. It was a beautiful old building. And then all of a sudden, yeah, it was a dump, a complete dump. And I didn't know. And like then the kukaracha showed up. Yeah. I was like, no, no, no, not for not th reasons, not for me. Yeah.
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Speaker 3: Uh.
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Speaker 1: And they did not do a good enough job taking care of it. In fact, I think they lied about taking care of it. And I called him a slum lord and he threatened me and it got a little handsy, and uh, now we're married. I love that happy ending.
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Speaker 3: Uh.
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Speaker 1: In the meantime, there is a place for you to go if, in fact you believe you have a slum lord, or if you want to make sure that you avoid one.
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Speaker 5: Hillside via in Chinatown tops the list published by controller Kenneth.
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Speaker 1: Mahea this week.
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Speaker 5: It's part of a new dashboard shining a light on the top one hundred properties with the most housing and code violations.
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Speaker 6: Say their fire alarm isn't working, plumbing isn't working, some more around the physical aspects of the building not working and there's a code violation, and then when it comes to the housing violation cases, it could be things like tenant harassment, legal rent increases, or even reduction of services for the tenants.
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Speaker 1: So the controller put together this map of Los Angeles just the city though, so if you're looking outside the city, you're not going to find it. But for these places you're talking about downtown, you can find out how many complaints have there been, And downtown is where all the hotspots are. There are some in the valley. That one they're talking about is in Tatown just outside I mean technically just outside. It all feels like downtown though around there yet, and so that is the area. It's densely populated, and it's a lot of rental units. Certainly, I looked at this, and I like a lot of the data that Kenneth and HEA's office publishes. It's interesting and it does call into question the powers that be often this one didn't impress me. I think we want to know who the bad landlords are, but and I do certainly think that this dashboard can probably identify a few of them. But there are a lot of rental units in Los Angeles, and this is a very small percentage of problem properties. That plays into the tenant advocacy that we're seeing from so many of our elected officials. Left. Yeah, because I'd love to see a map of these bad tenants. Frankly, they keep making us pay a lot of money to keep housed despite the fact that they don't pay their rents. Well, that crossed my mind because simply because there's a complaint about a process exactly, that's exactly.
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Speaker 4: This is not that.
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Speaker 1: These are the types of folks who would not want a news outlet talking about an alleged crime without revisiting that story, without following up with the information. Like we report somebody got arrested for stabbing somebody, and then we never report anything else on it again, and that person ended up being acquitted of all charges, but we never revisit the story. They wouldn't like that, No, they wouldn't like But this might be what they're doing with some of these property owners in this report. We don't know what the outcomes are. Meanwhile, you can rent to Sharon Tates or the homework Sharon take got killed, so it's for rent. Now, see how much it is all right, let's take a look at that two hundred and forty seven, five hundred dollars a month. I'd rather got condo a month. So we talked about young people not buying condos. It might be because they're struggling in the economy in general. Why your twenty six year old child may still be on the couch as Monks and Meryl continues. No, right, you're listening to Monks and Meryl onto the air from kf I AM six orders available anywhere on the irt radio app. It is Monks and Meryl wrapping up this Tuesday afternoon show. Point of order, sir, point of order. Yes, from the corrections department. All right, off we go, Meryl.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, me to the house where Sharon Tate was murdered. The original house was torn down years and years ago and a new one was built on the site and the name of the street which also changed, so you won't be living in the house where she was killed.
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Speaker 1: Thank you share All right, that guy definitely knows where a body is buried. And yeah, you are absolutely correct. Yes, this house was constructed in two thousand and six. You can rent it for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a month, But Sharon Tate's ghost still hunts the property. What do you think about that? Prove me wrong. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a month to rent. Prove me wrong. I'm not gonna prove you wrong. Her body hunts the property might not be the house, but she's there.
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Speaker 3: Good afternoon, eminem Yo, you guys are doing good.
00:24:45
Speaker 1: Thank you?
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Speaker 3: Was your talk show? Yes, hey, gentlemen, you guys were talking about apartments.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, and a roommate.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, my daughter moved out a couple months ago by herself an apartment. And guess who the roommate is. Yeah, it's called mom and dad.
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Speaker 3: Ah.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's still going on. Yeah, sorry, court hasn't been cut kick. It's tough. So yeah. Part of that reason is that the jobs just aren't there. The job market seems to be stuck. The trouble is that older Americans say, no, it isn't just go down there and turn your application in and shake some hands and give them your resume. It just doesn't work that way anymore. It's just not like that. It's very There may be a lot of jobs allegedly available. If you open a website looking for jobs and then you will not hear a peep. Now, this is what my son's running into too. He's sort of in the Katie Porter's Kids situation where like it's been failure to launch. Part of that's because his motivation was so terrible in his early twenties. But now he just had a birthday and he turned twenty seven and it's time. It's time to get something. And to his credit, he's going to job fairs. He's sending applications and constantly on LinkedIn always, and a lot of ghost jobs. In fact, I got a buddy that works in social media. He lives in Irvine and he keeps applying for jobs. He's been in a company for like ten years, and there is time and he says he's not even getting there's they're reposting the same job. They're like, this job has been filled, and then they repost the same job. It's just eoe nonsense, or it's they've got an internal candidate, but they have to post it online. Sure it's a terrible situation, or they're not even doing it. It's just phantom jobs. It's weird. This economy is strange because there are some fundamentals of it that say, Hey, things aren't so bad, but it certainly feels bad. Things are very expensive. Inflation is certainly being felt. The unemployment rate is right at about four point three percent. That's not terrible, seems pretty low to me. But hiring has slowed job seekers, as we just said, struggling to find their opening. A Washington Post report indicates that there is now roughly one job opening for every unemployed person. Okay, so why can't my kid get a job? That's what I'm saying, right, gallop up. The Polster gallup is found that forty three percent of people in this country who are between the ages of fifteen and thirty four say it is a good time to find a job where they live. Forty three percent. That's less than fifty percent. Yeah, forty three percent, getting your job is good. But sixty four percent of Americans fifty five and older say, oh, it's a great time to get a job. Good job, go down a straight gay job at the target. Just tell them, just see if they need any help. Roller skiting rings hiring. There is no roller skater ring, roller skyiton rings hire, no roller skater rink anymore. Now it's a homeless shelter in Northridge. Yeah, Debor Mark turned her roller rink into a homeless shelter. But here's what's interesting about that gap. Forty three percent of people fifteen to thirty four in this country say it's a good time. Forty three percent say it's good to find a job where they live, whereas sixty four percent of Americans fifty five or older. Okay, so that is a twenty one percentage point. Pretty big disconnect. It's not only a big disconnect, it is the largest gap in the world. So part of the reason I'm wondering is, is this a situation where companies are not hiring some of those entry level positions because some entry level stuff is being done by AI. They may not be eliminating jobs necessarily, we might not see the unemployment rate changing, but when it comes to hiring people, they're not hiring entry level. They're hiring people who have experience one or two notches above that similar because they want the experience. They don't need to pay somebody for on the job training. They've got AI to do that. We know people who are middle aged certainly lose jobs as well. You're susceptible being laid off you are also in the job seeker pool just like young people. You're working radio, you get fired constantly. But I bet my assumption here is that in this country specifically, which has the largest gap between the older people and the younger people and their perception of whether the labor market is good for them where they live, is older people. So let's say our age. I mean, we're in the lower foothills of middle age. Now, go on, we are well employed and we have been for the most part for a long time. Whereas younger people are entering the workforce and even if they are working at a restaurant something that's not meant to be that party level stuff. Yeah, before they get into the entry level of the industry that they ultimately want to be in, it may be years and years. Yeah, And so that relationship, and then what do you do if the industry that you wanted to be in is gone like radio? Like radio? And then that's so, Joe, it's a completely different world than it was thirty forty years ago. What it is today versus when I started twenty five years ago, it's twenty six and a half years ago. It's completely different. And the same thing is if you went to school for STEM programs in the early two thousands. What those STEM programs are cranking out now is totally different than what they were cranking out in twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, simply because of AI. You want to be a graphic designer. I told you I came up with a stunning City of Los Angeles logo. It's better than anything they've paid for and it took me five seconds to do it. While we were on the air, I did that graphic design is your passion, right, But now I can't get employed with my passion. So even if you said this is the industry I want to be and I look for an entry level job, I don't know that that industry is going to be there, and the entry level certainly isn't. It took me a year to find a job here, and it's it is. It hurts the search. So to all of you out there looking, the only advice I can give, and it's so lame. You have got to stay positive. It was so lame. It's so lame. Okay, next thing, you know, you just have to know that it's gonna happen for you. I will save your house for a fee. I'm believing that's all all right. Monks and Merrel back again tomorrow noon ish. The godfather of talk, John Cobet, steps into the padded room.
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Speaker 2: Next.
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Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty live everywhere in the iHeart Radio app. This is KFI on Demand. You've been listening to Monks and Merrill here the show live weekdays from noon to three on KFI AM six forty and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1: This is Monks and maryl hosted by Michael Monks and Chris Merrill. This is Monks and Merrill.
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Speaker 2: Fuck demand.
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Speaker 1: Make sure you subscribe to that podcast in the iHeartRadio. But it is the fastest growing podcast of the KFI lineup. Did you know that? Now it's true? Tell me more that there's actually no more to add? Okay, yeah. You can also follow us on social media at Monks and Merrill at Monks and Merril. And I wanted to bring something else up here, Michael that if you are paying taxes in Huntington Beach fifty thousand dollars a month, are is being washed away? Why? Said, Well, you're going to find out about that. But it wouldn't be a tease if I paid off on it right away. In the meantime, the number of people weighing in on Deborah's skating rink from the now we triggered to memory eighties. Yes, because Deborah would wear the sassoon Jordan Ash. Did you have guests at the time, No, I didn't have. No, I had cimend affairs. Did you use white rain hairspray? No, I don't remember what hairspray, but Shamanda fars or Shamanda firs. Now I can't remember how to say it, sassoon and jordash and ditto jeans as well. Its you. Yeah, I was of the era of bugle boy jeans. Are those bugle boy jeans you're wearing?
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Speaker 2: Why?
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Speaker 1: Yes they are? Okay, thank you, that's done. That's it. And then from the talkbacks, Deborah, you are you are keen in on some foundational memories for people?
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Speaker 3: Oood, Deborah.
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Speaker 1: My spot was the Moonlight skating rink in Pasadena.
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Speaker 3: It was so much fun. I don't know what it is now.
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Speaker 1: It had turned into like a store, but I don't know anymore. Oh okay, bye bye. Yeah, because Deborah's place turned into a homeless shelter. Yeah, that's sad. I want to go roller skating now I'm gonna have to find a place this weekend. My hometown skating rink just hit the market. We could all go in together. Now it's in. So it's funny you say that because mine did too. No way. Yeah, it's been I think three years, but I don't know if they sold it. It was a it was a skating rink, a bar, and a club and it was a complete dump I absolute trash. I guessed a girl for the first time at that skating rink as the love theme from Prince of Themes played in the background. I learned a lot about myself that day. Did you Chila or anything? A couple years later, I bet she did.
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Speaker 2: You know, as a kid, I might have seen the re marks on that roller rink because I would always there come Saturday, all day I was there at that roller ring. My parents would just dropped bus off there. Back then you could do that.
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Speaker 1: Do you recognize this voice? Ever?
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Speaker 2: No, I this day all day in the roller ring, skating, eating and having fun.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. And one more theme.
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Speaker 2: I remember when uh uh a song from Billy Squire's Strokeman will come on.
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Speaker 1: Everybody was blowing bay have a good one? Ever kissed? Ah? Yeah, I'm sure I not that song. It was the love song from Robinhood Prince of Thieves. My everything I do, I do it for you? Yeah, Richard Marks right? No? Oh, Billy U sorry? Brian Adams, Yes, yeah, there we go. Sorry. Yeah, I have to. I have to bear these stories of my wife too. She's like, oh, we just go to the roller rink and I used to just make out with boys like, I don't need to hear this well about disco nights. There was disco night that was so much fun. That sounds like fun. It was so Yeah, it's great memories, very good. In the meantime, let's let's talk about some not so fun memories. Huntington Beach says they don't want to build more affordable housing and you can't make them, and the courts say, yeah, actually, I think you're gonna go ahead and make it. Huntington Beach has been a thorn in the side of the Democratic leadership in Sacramento for a lot of issues, and they have gone head to head and he Huntington Beach has come out on the losing side. They've come out on the winning side a couple of times, but they've come in on the losing side. This is them on the losing side here. Huntington Beach has said, look, the mandates coming out of Sacramento about how much housing we're supposed to build, they don't apply to Huntington Beach, not the same way they do to charter cities. But courts don't buy it. And now a judge in San Diego has ordered the city to pay penalties until it adopts the state approved housing plan. Hunting of Beach is no, no, no, They're basically using the sovereign citizen argument against the state. They're like, I'm not I don't need a driver's license. I'm not a driver. I am a traveler. Shut up, Just pay the fine. You know, I don't mean to have insurance because that's not required because I do not acknowledge the laws of the United States. In order for me to have the laws applied, I must acknowledge that the laws exist, and I do not stop it. That's not how it works. Huntington Beach is doing the same thing. The state laws don't apply to us because we are not a part of the state. We are our own sovereign city.
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Speaker 4: No, you're not.
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Speaker 1: It is interesting that what a waste of time and money there. You hear criticism even from leaders in the City of Los Angeles, sing especially related to Senate Bill seventy nine, that transit housing policy that allows Yeah, they're like, I don't think Sacramento should be dictating to us how we zone and do housing. But Ali doesn't have a problem with Sacramento dictating to Huntington Beach to build more. Well, I just find it curious that whatever action Huntington Beach is taken has led to this court decision because basically, Huntington Beach has to pay one hundred and sixty thousand dollars in civil penalties I guess right away, ten thousand dollars a month from January of last year, when they were supposed to be allowing for affordable housing to be built, Huntington Beach said no, no, no, we're Brigadoon. We only allow people in when we want to, and we will not build additional housing. That was a nice reference, brigadoone. Yeah, that's your second Broadway reference today, by the way. The other one was before we went on air. So yeah, ethel Merman, okay, sorry. Fifty thousand dollars a month on top of that, starting next month in June, until Huntington Beach comes back a sortable housing plan. Yeah yeah, And of course they're not very happy about that. But that also means for other places that are fighting things like the Senate Bill seventy nine that says, let's build a housing near transit and increased density around transit stops. The courts have spoken, you're going to have to comply. That's the state law. You might not like it, but that's the state law. In the meantime, I did tease this, we will pay it off. And that is that MacArthur Park is getting cleaned up because Mayor Bass said, so, oh yeah, we're going to do that. That's coming up. And by the way, there are some houses available. They're called condos, and more and more of them are apparently available because no one's biting. Why is no one buying condos right now? That's next. You're listening to Monks and Merrill on demand from KFI AM six forty more stimulating talk. So the mayor is cleaning up MacArthur Park? Are we doing that here? Yeah? Tell me more? Okay. So KTLA was following up on what they had going on. I heard Timmy talking about this too. I was like, there it is. We fixed homeless miss MacArthur Park. You, my friend, when you get home, maybe take a little trip go enjoy MacArthur Park. I dude, it's clean though that smart manages a restaurant near it. Perf there almost every clean. It's not spotless cleaned.
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Speaker 3: The volatile sights and sounds of MacArthur Park. We're just walking down the sidewalk and spark tension without ward.
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Speaker 1: I love it when they're yelling at the guy for me, you don't have permission to film me, but I have permission to do all the drugs in the world next to this illegally placed tent. That's what they should say. It's like, I'm sorry. This is an open air camera market.
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Speaker 3: And a broad daylight.
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Speaker 1: Beat to the ground, bug fights.
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Speaker 3: What's known as the fetanyl fold. Impossible to miss the open drug use in plain sight, and needles scattered all over.
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Speaker 4: Fix up.
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Speaker 1: They were violent venom victim looking look at the the vocabulary it described how morono.
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Speaker 3: At six for William Howard crommedy.
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Speaker 1: Okay, skip ahead because this is you get it. It's bad.
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Speaker 3: Then days later lapd here for more arrest seizing fetanyl pills and cash. Despite everything going on in this area, the bus stop right here six and all Marona was taken away. Apparently the homeless were using it as a shelter.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, they took away the bus stop, so there's no shelter there anymore people sleeping there, especially for me, got rid of it.
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Speaker 3: About the seconds where a bench used to be Angela Robinson now waits for the bus standing six months pregnant, a bench now missing in a community desperate for relief, Wessing bench and despite recent arrest. Many say, when the sun goes down, the problems come right back.
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Speaker 1: You noticed it different since then, No, because the same rats come out in nine oh dear.
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Speaker 3: A spokesperson for Mayor Karen bat tells us one bench was removed for maintenance, another for public safety reasons. They say, this is one small example of the mayor's broad and comprehensive approach to finally improving public safety MacArthur Park, a problem that's been decades in the making.
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Speaker 1: Part of her broad and comprehensive approach is removing one bench. Offensive. Let's take away something that people need. A pregnant lady who has to catch the bus there. Removing a bench from MacArthur Park is part of the broad and comprehensive Why don't they remove the drug addicts? What are you talking about? A bench just too good?
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Speaker 3: This is too rich, They say, this is one small example of the mayor's broad and comprehensive approach to finally improving public safety MacArthur Park.
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Speaker 1: It is laughable offense. It's it's embarrassing that the policy choices have allowed this beautiful park to look the way that it does, and the remedies are so laughable and offensive to anyone with a brain. Tokay bench out, and it's part of her broad and comprehensive strategy to report into now. I mean, I don't even know how the how these spokespeople sleep writing statements like that knowing that they are factually incorrect. Is it a game that they play. Let's let's say that, folks, people are clever, the dumbest thing we are in the media. We have to deal with these people all the time to get a statement. I mean, there are some crafty ones. I don't like statements crafted by communication people that ignore the question and kind of go into an attack mode or ridiculous spin. I don't even appreciate it as a skill. Frankly, like you have to answer to the public for what you've done. You don't get to write the story. The story is unfolding before people's eyes. I mean, that's why cobots called him spokes holes for the longest time, because he knows exactly what you're saying. I mean, it's that's what we deal with that it's your fault as a journalist asking the question, Hey, Mayor Bass, why isn't the homeless problem at the MacArthur Park gotten any better? How dare you ask me that question? We have a comprehensive strategy. So we took the bus bench away. So now pregnant lady who actually contributes to society but clearly going to work, has to stand there with nowhere to sit, because we allow this homeless and drug addicted population to overrun every piece of the public realm comprehensive strategy. So why don't they just get a place to live, Michael Monks, They could condo. Plenty of condos available. I was browsing Zillo this week to see what the condo market looked like in downtown LA, because you know, that's my other plan. If a Hancock Park doesn't work out, then I'll just stay downtown. But I'd like to own something at some point. And here there's a bench that may be available at a low cost. I'll put it right in the kitchen. This market in downtown LA, you can It's like one of the few places in Los Angeles County where you can get a two bedroom room home for six hundred thousand dollars and they're nice. I mean, the condos downtown are nice. We know the environment is terrible because we have comprehensive approaches to homelessness that are obviously saying.
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Speaker 3: This is one small example of the Mayor's broad and comprehensive approach to finally improving public safety.
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Speaker 1: If you're twenty floors up, you can't really smell the pile of human feces. You're far enough away, okay, And it's nice. You've got a good view, a good vive, keep it down, maybe a rooftop. It's it's really interesting to see what's available. Here's where they get you. Yeah, here's where they get you, Chris. When you're looking at I'm looking at these, I'm like, I could get into a house for four ninety nine, four hundred ninety nine thousand dollars, Like, oh yeah, I have a two bedroom, two bath condo in downtown Los Angeles. And then you look at the hoa oh oh, and that go on is often thirteen fourteen hundred dollars on top of your mortgage. So I think that scares a lot of people. But what we we have seen is La County condo prices have fallen four and a half percent in February compared to a year earlier, where a single family home price is only fell one point six That's significant four and a half percent, And I think the HOA situation has a lot to do with it. I do too. Now. It may just be that it's all loaded in the HOA and you see this big price, But if you break it down to what the HOA covers, are you getting your money's worth for it? Would you be spending that much anyway on things like insurance, gym membership, any of that stuff that might be included. So one of the big issues that I have with maintenance with the hoas is that if you break it down, you go, Okay, I can get this placed in downtown LA for five hundred thousand, but my HOA is going to be nearly as much as my mortgage, right Yeah, But if I didn't have the HOA, then I'd be paying twice as much in my mortgage. The different is you have some equity in the home itself. You get no equity out of the hoas. And so that's where I have problems with with Pango's exorbitant HOA fees, because what do I get out of that not just the services that you're talking about, but I have to be able to go to the bank and say, look, I can make my mortgage payment, I can't make my HOA payment. Yeah, here's what I just found on Eleventh Street. Five hundred and fifty thousand dollars, two bedroom, two bath, fourteen hundred square feet. Looks like a decent place. Hoa's fourteen hundred and seventy three dollars a month. And what's the estimated mortgage Just shy six thousands. Yeah, okay, so I mean that is that's not that's a lot to ask. But again, you are now a homeowner, so you have the investment. But would you be spending that much or is that HOA inflated? Oh I'm sure it's inflated.
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Speaker 2: Now.
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Speaker 1: You if you're talking about downtown specifically, you're more than likely in a building a building. If you're in a condo, it's a building, that's what we're talking about. Condos are available, yes, in skyscraper, So in your downtowns you've got security on site. So that's that's one expense that you're paying for and that may not apply to you, know, your single family home out somewhere you don't have a gate with a guard. And this is gonna But does it include your insurance or does it not? Does it include h Does it have a nice gym facility? It does have a gym, I just looked that. Does it have a swimming pool? Does it have things that you would do just have some of those paying to use elsewhere that it might ultimately make sense. Fourteen hundred dollars, there's an awful lot of money. That's a whole lot more you're gonna pay for a YMC membership and in a place of twenty four to seven fitness or whatever. And I live in a place that is part apartment buildings and part condo and we share the amenities, and amenities are fine, but I kind of feel bad for the people in the in the condos who are paying directly the HOA fees for the dull And it's made me question a lot of these hoa which is why condos are not It's one of the reasons that condos are not selling. There are few other reasons. We'll get into those here in just a few moments. And well, they may be asking you the quarter million dollars a month for one place that you can write forget about your hoa. How about you just pay your rental quarter million a month. We call that monks money. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left searching in the interwebs to make sure that we aren't sending a lease with a slumlord, how to protect yourself from years of headaches, and why you may still want to avoid buying that condo. All next, Monks and Meryl Kfi I AM six forty, We're live everywhere in the iHeart Radio app.
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Speaker 2: You're listening to Monks and Merrill on demand from KFI AM six.
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Speaker 1: Monks and Meryl kfi AM six forty more stimulating talk and on the podcast the iHeart Radio app. Make sure you smash that subscribe button. Smash it, don't hurt it. And then when you're on the socials, you'll find us at Monks and Merrill. At Monks and Merrill. Did you you know we were talking about condos being available and you were saying, well, the hoas are too stink and high. You know, I was thinking about something else too, because as I was reading this article, I saw comment online and they said, builders are still building. We keep talking about a shortage of things. They go builders are still building and if there were more condos available, that would end up bringing the prices down even further, and it might make them reconsider some of the ha the management companies and things like that. Maybe they reconsider how much do we really need to make in those hwa because for a lot of the has it's a money making scheme. I'm convinced of that, But then somebody may mention they said, oh, they're still building going on, but they won't build condos. They're only building apartments because the money is there in the apartments for the builders. Yeah, so they're really looking at that and they're going, we can make more money if we build apartments and then rent them out than we can if we build these condos. They just don't the margins aren't there. There's one other thing I was thinking, and that is have you read these stories about how gen Z is delaying some of the life milestones like getting married? Yeah? Sure, yeah. So if you're not married, where you're trying to go it alone, or are you're living with a roommate and at some point the roommate's going to ski down a on you because they're gonna it's transitional, right, roommates are by definition, transitional marriage means you're both in at it together. So it is a whole lot easier to buy a house with two people than it is with one person. Yeah, or to buy a condo. And so as gen Z starts delaying these things, I was seeing that the average what is the average age or the number of people? I got it, the number of people under a certain age was something ridiculously low. Yeah, young adults own just eleven percent of condos of home excuse me in Los Angeles, Orange County, just eleven percent for young adults. That's one of the lowest numbers you're ever going to see. And why is that? Part of the reason, not only cost, but part of the reason is they're delaying some of these milestones like getting married. Yeah, two incomes help when it comes time to buy something, no doubt about it, to qualify for certain mortgages. But cost is the biggest one here, no doubt about it. I mean, the average cost of a house an Orange agree, over a million dollars? Agree, average cost in Los Angeles County is right around nine hundred thousands. Agree. But even if that was half the price at five hundred thousand, I would have trouble buying a five hundred thousand dollars home on my own. My wife and I together, we could do that. Yeah, and we're both professionals with decent jobs. Yes, yeah, but if you were in a different part of the country, you would be able to afford. Well, five hundred thousand dollars is five hundred thousand dollars regardless of No. No, I mean, I'm saying, even if the prices were half of what they are, you would not be able to afford to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars house by yourself. We could. But if I'm buying a five hundred thousand dollars house wherever that is. Quit arguing with me. It's matter with you. Why do you like this? I think younger people would make investments in real estate even if they were single, because it is a smart investment. If it were its game. I just can't even do it. Yeah, and I just not I agree. Quit arguing with me. I'm not arguing at the same point. I'm not the worst. I'm not. Hey, you ever have a bad n a bad landlord? Way back in the day, I had a bad one, did you.
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Speaker 4: Yeah?
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Speaker 1: We didn't. We didn't do well. Did here to shar you get personal on this or what well? I saw and it was like one of my first apartments by myself, and you know I love old buildings. It was a beautiful old building. And then all of a sudden, yeah, it was a dump, a complete dump. And I didn't know. And like then the kukaracha showed up. Yeah. I was like, no, no, no, not for not th reasons, not for me. Yeah.
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Speaker 3: Uh.
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Speaker 1: And they did not do a good enough job taking care of it. In fact, I think they lied about taking care of it. And I called him a slum lord and he threatened me and it got a little handsy, and uh, now we're married. I love that happy ending.
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Speaker 3: Uh.
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Speaker 1: In the meantime, there is a place for you to go if, in fact you believe you have a slum lord, or if you want to make sure that you avoid one.
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Speaker 5: Hillside via in Chinatown tops the list published by controller Kenneth.
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Speaker 1: Mahea this week.
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Speaker 5: It's part of a new dashboard shining a light on the top one hundred properties with the most housing and code violations.
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Speaker 6: Say their fire alarm isn't working, plumbing isn't working, some more around the physical aspects of the building not working and there's a code violation, and then when it comes to the housing violation cases, it could be things like tenant harassment, legal rent increases, or even reduction of services for the tenants.
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Speaker 1: So the controller put together this map of Los Angeles just the city though, so if you're looking outside the city, you're not going to find it. But for these places you're talking about downtown, you can find out how many complaints have there been, And downtown is where all the hotspots are. There are some in the valley. That one they're talking about is in Tatown just outside I mean technically just outside. It all feels like downtown though around there yet, and so that is the area. It's densely populated, and it's a lot of rental units. Certainly, I looked at this, and I like a lot of the data that Kenneth and HEA's office publishes. It's interesting and it does call into question the powers that be often this one didn't impress me. I think we want to know who the bad landlords are, but and I do certainly think that this dashboard can probably identify a few of them. But there are a lot of rental units in Los Angeles, and this is a very small percentage of problem properties. That plays into the tenant advocacy that we're seeing from so many of our elected officials. Left. Yeah, because I'd love to see a map of these bad tenants. Frankly, they keep making us pay a lot of money to keep housed despite the fact that they don't pay their rents. Well, that crossed my mind because simply because there's a complaint about a process exactly, that's exactly.
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Speaker 4: This is not that.
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Speaker 1: These are the types of folks who would not want a news outlet talking about an alleged crime without revisiting that story, without following up with the information. Like we report somebody got arrested for stabbing somebody, and then we never report anything else on it again, and that person ended up being acquitted of all charges, but we never revisit the story. They wouldn't like that, No, they wouldn't like But this might be what they're doing with some of these property owners in this report. We don't know what the outcomes are. Meanwhile, you can rent to Sharon Tates or the homework Sharon take got killed, so it's for rent. Now, see how much it is all right, let's take a look at that two hundred and forty seven, five hundred dollars a month. I'd rather got condo a month. So we talked about young people not buying condos. It might be because they're struggling in the economy in general. Why your twenty six year old child may still be on the couch as Monks and Meryl continues. No, right, you're listening to Monks and Meryl onto the air from kf I AM six orders available anywhere on the irt radio app. It is Monks and Meryl wrapping up this Tuesday afternoon show. Point of order, sir, point of order. Yes, from the corrections department. All right, off we go, Meryl.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, me to the house where Sharon Tate was murdered. The original house was torn down years and years ago and a new one was built on the site and the name of the street which also changed, so you won't be living in the house where she was killed.
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Speaker 1: Thank you share All right, that guy definitely knows where a body is buried. And yeah, you are absolutely correct. Yes, this house was constructed in two thousand and six. You can rent it for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a month, But Sharon Tate's ghost still hunts the property. What do you think about that? Prove me wrong. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a month to rent. Prove me wrong. I'm not gonna prove you wrong. Her body hunts the property might not be the house, but she's there.
00:24:42
Speaker 3: Good afternoon, eminem Yo, you guys are doing good.
00:24:45
Speaker 1: Thank you?
00:24:46
Speaker 3: Was your talk show? Yes, hey, gentlemen, you guys were talking about apartments.
00:24:51
Speaker 4: Yeah, and a roommate.
00:24:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, my daughter moved out a couple months ago by herself an apartment. And guess who the roommate is. Yeah, it's called mom and dad.
00:25:04
Speaker 3: Ah.
00:25:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's still going on. Yeah, sorry, court hasn't been cut kick. It's tough. So yeah. Part of that reason is that the jobs just aren't there. The job market seems to be stuck. The trouble is that older Americans say, no, it isn't just go down there and turn your application in and shake some hands and give them your resume. It just doesn't work that way anymore. It's just not like that. It's very There may be a lot of jobs allegedly available. If you open a website looking for jobs and then you will not hear a peep. Now, this is what my son's running into too. He's sort of in the Katie Porter's Kids situation where like it's been failure to launch. Part of that's because his motivation was so terrible in his early twenties. But now he just had a birthday and he turned twenty seven and it's time. It's time to get something. And to his credit, he's going to job fairs. He's sending applications and constantly on LinkedIn always, and a lot of ghost jobs. In fact, I got a buddy that works in social media. He lives in Irvine and he keeps applying for jobs. He's been in a company for like ten years, and there is time and he says he's not even getting there's they're reposting the same job. They're like, this job has been filled, and then they repost the same job. It's just eoe nonsense, or it's they've got an internal candidate, but they have to post it online. Sure it's a terrible situation, or they're not even doing it. It's just phantom jobs. It's weird. This economy is strange because there are some fundamentals of it that say, Hey, things aren't so bad, but it certainly feels bad. Things are very expensive. Inflation is certainly being felt. The unemployment rate is right at about four point three percent. That's not terrible, seems pretty low to me. But hiring has slowed job seekers, as we just said, struggling to find their opening. A Washington Post report indicates that there is now roughly one job opening for every unemployed person. Okay, so why can't my kid get a job? That's what I'm saying, right, gallop up. The Polster gallup is found that forty three percent of people in this country who are between the ages of fifteen and thirty four say it is a good time to find a job where they live. Forty three percent. That's less than fifty percent. Yeah, forty three percent, getting your job is good. But sixty four percent of Americans fifty five and older say, oh, it's a great time to get a job. Good job, go down a straight gay job at the target. Just tell them, just see if they need any help. Roller skiting rings hiring. There is no roller skater ring, roller skyiton rings hire, no roller skater rink anymore. Now it's a homeless shelter in Northridge. Yeah, Debor Mark turned her roller rink into a homeless shelter. But here's what's interesting about that gap. Forty three percent of people fifteen to thirty four in this country say it's a good time. Forty three percent say it's good to find a job where they live, whereas sixty four percent of Americans fifty five or older. Okay, so that is a twenty one percentage point. Pretty big disconnect. It's not only a big disconnect, it is the largest gap in the world. So part of the reason I'm wondering is, is this a situation where companies are not hiring some of those entry level positions because some entry level stuff is being done by AI. They may not be eliminating jobs necessarily, we might not see the unemployment rate changing, but when it comes to hiring people, they're not hiring entry level. They're hiring people who have experience one or two notches above that similar because they want the experience. They don't need to pay somebody for on the job training. They've got AI to do that. We know people who are middle aged certainly lose jobs as well. You're susceptible being laid off you are also in the job seeker pool just like young people. You're working radio, you get fired constantly. But I bet my assumption here is that in this country specifically, which has the largest gap between the older people and the younger people and their perception of whether the labor market is good for them where they live, is older people. So let's say our age. I mean, we're in the lower foothills of middle age. Now, go on, we are well employed and we have been for the most part for a long time. Whereas younger people are entering the workforce and even if they are working at a restaurant something that's not meant to be that party level stuff. Yeah, before they get into the entry level of the industry that they ultimately want to be in, it may be years and years. Yeah, And so that relationship, and then what do you do if the industry that you wanted to be in is gone like radio? Like radio? And then that's so, Joe, it's a completely different world than it was thirty forty years ago. What it is today versus when I started twenty five years ago, it's twenty six and a half years ago. It's completely different. And the same thing is if you went to school for STEM programs in the early two thousands. What those STEM programs are cranking out now is totally different than what they were cranking out in twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, simply because of AI. You want to be a graphic designer. I told you I came up with a stunning City of Los Angeles logo. It's better than anything they've paid for and it took me five seconds to do it. While we were on the air, I did that graphic design is your passion, right, But now I can't get employed with my passion. So even if you said this is the industry I want to be and I look for an entry level job, I don't know that that industry is going to be there, and the entry level certainly isn't. It took me a year to find a job here, and it's it is. It hurts the search. So to all of you out there looking, the only advice I can give, and it's so lame. You have got to stay positive. It was so lame. It's so lame. Okay, next thing, you know, you just have to know that it's gonna happen for you. I will save your house for a fee. I'm believing that's all all right. Monks and Merrel back again tomorrow noon ish. The godfather of talk, John Cobet, steps into the padded room.
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Speaker 2: Next.
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Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty live everywhere in the iHeart Radio app. This is KFI on Demand. You've been listening to Monks and Merrill here the show live weekdays from noon to three on KFI AM six forty and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
