Podcasts about villaraigosa

ICYMI: Hour One of ‘Later, with Mo'Kelly' Presents – Thoughts on Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa throwing his hat into the 2026 California Governor race AND the resignations of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez…PLUS - Southern California Amazon workers & Disneyland workers are going on strike - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app

California's Democratic delegates say they'll back Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention. LAist looks at how Harris will approach young voters & immigration. Fmr. LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announces his run for CA governor in 2026. Plus, more. Support The L.A. Report by donating at LAist.com/join and by visiting https://laist.com.   Support the show: https://laist.com

This week's SGV Connect podcast is a special episode where the Streetsblog San Gabriel Valley team, Chris Greenspon, Joe Linton and Damien Newton, sit down and discuss the great success that was ArroyoFest 2023. All three were at the event but experienced it differently with Linton and his family biking the route, Newton completing the "Run the 110" 10k race and Greenspon walking along the 110 later in the morning. Of course, this is Streetsblog so we also discuss what the success of the event could mean for future open streets and open freeway events in the region and Newton even dreams of permanent freeway closures and replacements. A lightly edited transcript of the podcast appears after audio links. There's also one correction that's noted in the transcript but not the audio. At one point Newton states there were 1,700 people that completed the race. The number is actually over 4,000. SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.” Catch past episodes of SGV Connect and #DamienTalks on LibSyn, iTunes, Google Play, or Overcast. Transcript: (Note: Text in italics is audio that was taken during ArroyoFest itself.) Chris Greenspon  0:09   Hi, it's Chris Greenspon You're listening to SGV Connect #120, our ArroyoFest after special. We're going to take you through our experience. We all did a different mode of transportation there. And we all recorded some on site narration of the things we were experiencing, seeing and hearing. You're gonna hear that kind of audio laced into the episode throughout. So anyway, Damian hit us with that ad copy. Damien Newton  0:34   Oh, right. Well, this and every episode of SGV Connect is sponsored by Foothill Transit. Offering car free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to go Gold Line Stations across the Foothill and the Silver Streak into downtown Los Angeles. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit at Foothill transit.org Foothill Transit! Going good places. Joe Linton  0:53   This is Streetsblog editor Joe Linton, reporting from the off ramp to the Avenue 60. On the 110 freeway on the morning of ArroyoFest. My daughter and I are here got up at the crack of dawn. It's colder than I thought it'd be but it's warming up, I can see the sun arriving. And it's not quite crowded yet with cyclists but there are definitely 10s...probably hundreds of cyclists. Damien Newton  1:26   Alright, so I am near the starting line now. And there are 1000s of people in front of me and we are 18 minutes away from the start. So this is going to be a pretty pretty big race, maybe the biggest 10k I've done attendance wise. I do look forward to seeing the final numbers for this, this is going to be a big, well attended race. Chris Greenspon  1:53   I'm walking towards the 110 on Orange Grove Avenue just past the cover band and a row of porta potties. Both are always an encouraging sight and sound at these open streets events. We're about to get on the 110. And now let's talk about what we and so many other people have glowingly said about ArroyoFest, Joe. Joe Linton  2:19   Yeah, I think I mean, this is some people have been saying this online, but I think it really had some of the energy of the of the very first open streets event in Southern California. I mean, actually ArroyoFest 2003 is sometimes as good as that. But CicLAvia itself started in 2010. And people didn't know what to expect. And just you know, 10s of 1000s of people, more than 50,000 people showed up and it was downright crowded. With bicycles, the walk side, you guys can probably speak to that but wasn't wasn't quite as crowded early on. It wasn't quite as crowded. But it really got to a point on the freeway, you know, where three lanes of three car lanes wasn't enough to hold lots of cyclist wishing by so there was a lot of slowing down and, y navigating space with other human beings, the things people do in cities around the world every day. Chris Greenspon  3:16   Yeah, it's almost like it should have been widened. Damien, what did you make of the vibe out there? And that was in jest, SGV Connect devotees? Please, Damien, and take over. Damien Newton  3:27   Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Chris, almost giving me a heart attack before you put the microphone out. Maybe if we had extended it instead of widening it. Anyway, usually when I do these types of events, I'm doing that with my family who is completely bored of hearing me drone on and on about the benefits for open streets events, or I'm doing them with other activists. So this was new for me, because I'm doing it with running groups, not just like my friends that run but like surrounded by people, and it was a different discussion. No one was talking about the broader impacts it was more "oh, it's gonna be cool, we get to run on the freeway." It was pretty much a vibe. But then when we were actually out there running there were "Oh, this is cool." There were people way more people stopping to take selfies, and I was...depending how you view it...I was either at the back of the fast group or the front of the middle group timewise. And so I was around people that were serious runners, and they were stopping and taking pictures. They were talking about how cool it was they were they were doing this race. This is not normal conversation for a race unless you're in like a themed race like a Disney Race or a Rose Bowl Race or something like that, where you're in a unique environment. And that's what it was. It was a unique environment. And if you're not a runner, most five and 10 k's are on streets that are closed. That's just that's how they do them. You're in downtown or you're in the west side or your wherever it is a lot of it's on the road...but on the freeway had a very different feel for people and you saw I see way more pictures from other runners than I'm used to for these types of events. Usually pictures are at the start of the end with your friends. They're not in the middle of the race. Joe Linton  4:55   Damien, can you can you talk about a little bit about like so what was the route? Also, I think something that's unusual on runs to is that they gave people tap cards right and forced you guys onto the train. So talk about like, where it started and where it ended and how it basically worked. Damien Newton  5:13   Well, it started. I'm about 200 yards away from the South Pasadena station and we ran onto the freeway. We actually ran north for a little bit just so that we could I guess, be at exactly 10k..runners don't want a 9.8k medal. So then we turned around and ran basically south to the end. And it ended at the activity center at the south end of the route. Joe Linton  5:32   Yeah, which is in the Lincoln Heights right? Cypress Park, close to Dodger Stadium. Damien Newton  5:38   It was. One of the theories that I had as to why...there was a lot of discussion online that we'll get into is...why are we doing this only until 11. I was like, well, when they were planning this, they didn't know if the Dodgers were going to be in the World Series. And that was probably part of it. I mean, it'd be really hard to have a Dodgers World Series game and have a chunk of the 110 close until just a couple hours before the game starts. I was thinking that that might have played into that decision making but yeah, it was right there. And a lot of runners got on the Gold Line to get there because between the heavily heavily heavily advertised lack of parking...I probably got an email from the Ron the 110 every day in the week before telling me not to bother to drive and park. Between that and the free tap cards not just free. tab cards unique tab cards, all I can show mine off to the people in the room with me. I would guess almost everybody that ran took Metro to get there. Joe Linton  6:29   And what was the run? Like? Was it quiet? Was it loud? Was it fast? What's what was what was actually being out there running on a freeway? What was your experience? Chris Greenspon  6:39   And downhill at that? Damien Newton  6:40   Well, I was gonna mention the downhill because I've well stated on this podcast and elsewhere, I was in a Halloween costume. And I was not expecting to have my strongest race day. But I did really well in large part because it was downhill. Also, I ran into one of my run partners who's in a lot better shape than me and she dragged me along with her. So that helps too. But yeah, it was a lot of it was downhill. There was more talking than usual on the race. But I mean, other than that, it was quiet. And I think the talking was people going "oh, wow, this is cool." Which I actually said a few times out loud to the people I was running with. My friend Juanna who I was out with, we talked about how this was like a really cool race. And she's the type of person that does like 40 mile races and stuff like that, like, you know, my marathons are wimpy. And she was like, "No, this race is fantastic. This is one I'm gonna remember." Joe Linton  7:31   The freeway is so crowded. Lots and lots, hundreds 1000s of bikes, people on bikes, escapes, wheelchairs, scooters, more people arriving by the minute. Chris Greenspon  7:46   Now this is a sight, we're finally coming down into the much more green area of the 110 just got under a bridge then of course, down straight away in the distance. You see Mount Washington, people waving Joe Linton  8:03   People getting lost people find each other. And it's it's I think it's one of the most crowded open streets events I've ever seen. And the walk side is just as crowded as the bike side. Damien Newton  8:14   Okay, so I am done the race. I have done the festival I have seen there were 1741 people registered for the 10k. (Note, this is wrong, there were 1741 people that had finnished the race when I checked my times on the app. There were actually over 4,000 people that ran the race). Of course, we saw plenty of people running along the route that were not signed up, which is great. You know, I wanted my fancy medal but not everybody does. And it was a it was a great time. It really was a unique experience. Got a lot of great pictures. A lot of fond memories. Hope I get to do this again before I'm 65. Now I'm gonna go back out and walk the route a little bit. Chris Greenspon  8:48   Okay, so now do you want to go into the wrinkles? of the show of the whole event? Joe Linton  8:54   Yeah, just some of the buzz online. A concern raised by some cyclist was...advocates...on you're not some cyclists called it a shitshow some some called the dangerous. There were a lot of crashes of cyclists here and there. I mean, and when I say a lot, it's probably, you know, 50,000 cyclists and you know, two dozen of them maybe fell or something. I should say 50,000 participants probably. That's a guess. But certainly 10s of 1000s of folks participating in any event and I'd say more than half of those. probably more than two thirds of those, would be bicyclists. So probably 30-40-50,000 bicyclists. I think that we we don't share space that well in Southern California and that's drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians, people taking transit. We're not used to these spaces where there's lots of people, and everyone's moving, and we need to really look out for each other. I talked to my daughter, "You need to know who's behind you and who's in front of you." You know? Every day on Southern California freeway's one or more people die. The freeway was safer than you know, every day in Southern California. But  I think there were a lot of small scale crashes and probably a few broken bones. And anybody else want to touch on that? Chris Greenspon  10:35   I would say? One thing that maybe should have been a hard rule would have been none of the three wheeled scooters with the two in front. maybe I'm misunderstanding physics here, but it seems like those were easier to tip forward. I saw at least three or four kids fall straight forward onto the freeway. With those again, the the really flimsy three wheeled scooters, as opposed to like some of the more modern razors that look like they're set up pretty stable. What about you, Damien, did you observe any precociousness or precariousness? Speaker 2  11:10   Well, again, I was in a really different situation, almost a controlled environment as you're gonna get in that sort of event where you know, everybody was running. So there wasn't a lot.. I mean, we did see a person trip. But like, that's not unusual. I will say when, in the early morning when you're running, even if you're running fast on the southbound side, you're watching the bicyclists zip pass on the northbound side, some of them pretty fast. It wasn't very crowded yet. We were very happy for that separation. And I know some of the people that ran back the other way that I talked to afterwards said the same thing like that separation was great. As far as the people on two feet instead of two wheels were concerned...you two wheeled menaces you. So it was great. As far as we thought on foot. We didn't have the "Oh no, we're too crowded." It was like up there they are over there going much faster than we are. Chris Greenspon  12:01   Towards the end, I did see a few bikes on the walking side. Joe Linton  12:05   Yeah, I wondered that too:the speed differential. And so you had, four year olds on bikes with training wheels, and what they call MAMILS, middle aged men in lycra, fancy road bikes trying to get their miles in. And I think that there probably could have been some notice to...I hate to second guess the organizers did an awesome job...and this is sort of reaching for criticism, but  it's sort of slow cyclists on one side. If you're going less than eight miles an hour or something, you're welcome to be on the walk side. If you're willing to be really chill. It's kind of like bicycling on a sidewalk in LA. It's often a good choice, if you're willing to slow down. And if, if you want to go fast, it doesn't really make sense. Anyway, I hate to dwell on the small number of crashes with the so many people and so many smiles and people what was fun as event got going. So there's a concrete barrier that's maybe three, two or three feet wide at the top. And a lot of people were climbing up on the barrier and shooting selfies and getting the pictures of the freeway signs, Downtown to your right or whatever. It was really was a great vibe. It was it was fun to be in that space. And it's something where I think, "every CicLAvia is fun for me." And it's sort of like church. I had my great Sunday's whatever. And yet, there was a feeling at ArroyoFest, sort of like the first CicLAvia, that this was something big and new, and actually media wise, that has borne out. Open streets now under especially funded under Metro, there's maybe a dozen a year. Not quite one a month, but they rarely make the news. And this one, we got front page coverage in the LA Times lots of gorgeous photos. And TV news covered it. And how was your feed? Every other thing on my Instagram and Facebook was people's people's photos at this event. So it felt like it felt like a real happening and a real newsworthy thing. And not just another sequel?. Chris Greenspon  14:36   I think considering that. It was the first time that probably almost anybody...the majority of the people who participated ever got to do a thing like that go hang out on the freeway. The turnout scale was bound to be legendary. And with that considered, I think safety wise, it actually went pretty well. And honestly It was kind of nice that despite the like you said, the proliferation of media coverage, it was nice to go do something like this. And I didn't see a single TV camera the whole time. And I guess it feels like you can be more yourself. Maybe that was what I liked most about it. The sense of isolation, even though obviously, there was 10s of 1000s of people. It felt like being in another place in another world at times. Joe Linton  15:28   Yeah, it does. I mean, the quiet in the middle of the city in a space like that, it did feel kind of uncanny in some way. So let's talk about the future. I'm going to preface this with in 2009, everybody was like "CicLAvia will never work in Los Angeles" In 2010, we did it! I was one of the people who was working on the first one, although there were a lot of people doing it. I'm not the author. But I'm one of the one of the folks. And I think there was a sense after CicLAvia that, "This changes everything. We've demonstrated that if you build it, they will come." And yet, here we are, you know, a decade later. And I think less has changed than I would have hoped for at the time. So what's the implications for the future for this event? Chris Greenspon  16:18   So I think this, without a doubt has to raise Active SGV's credibility with the entire San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments Consortium. I mean, they're already very well regarded. But in the towns where they haven't really done much yet. I think this gives them if not a blank check, a very, very, very strong resume point. I mean, being having a successful event on the cover of the LA Times makes me wonder whether we might see an event on on Temple, in La Puente,, in Baldwin Park over to Walnut. That's something I would enjoy personally. But I can't imagine that we will not be seeing more Active SGV open streets events, especially along the L line as those continued to complete in the coming years. Joe Linton  17:06   So I do think that yes, it will make Active SGV, who did a phenomenal job, getting all the permits and organizing them in and bringing it all together. I think it'll make them more in demand for doing 66 Golden Streets. Communities can see this, the success and the happiness of stuff like this and ask for more open streets. But I also wonder, going beyond events to permanent treatments of public space. I think that car free space is at such a premium in Los Angeles. And people go to malls and the beach and stuff like that. And they have this experience of sharing space. And I think we need to look at our downtowns, Los Angeles, of course, but Pasadena and all the you know, these A Line stations. You guys call it the L Line, I call it the A Line or the Gold Line. I think we do need to look at instead of, you know, widening streets and building massive parking structures around our transit stations, to look at where can we do Paseos and bike facilities and shared space that we keep cars out of that people can come together in? That's what I hope grows out of it.  I think we've accepted, "we" being Southern California, we've accepted that we can come together for CicLAvia you know, for 626 Golden Streets, for ArroyoFest, once a month, twice a month, but I think we do need to look to can we do this, if not 24/7, even weekends.  Why don't we close a few blocks of a street in historic downtown area in Arcadia for example. But why don't we do that, you know, every weekend for two months during the summer or something like that. So why don't we make this space proliferate? And if it's too hard to close the street permanently? Can we do it all weekend? Can we do it for a season? Can we do it for four Sundays in a month or something like that? So I think there's kind of so I'm talking about there's kind of two ends of the open street spectrum: one is massive event like Heart of LA orArroyoFest, you know, close and iconic area, bring lots and lots of people. But I think the other end is important too. It's a little bit more like a farmers market. Can we take an area and actually I mean, the folks you've written about...the Complete Streets plan in El Monte... and looking at revitalizing some of the downtown areas that are having trouble drawing in customers. Activate that space by keeping cars out of it, and bringing music and vendors and people into it. And I don't know I say all this and I'm not, I don't want to be naive that that's an easy task. That's against the grain of what of what we do in Southern California. But these carfree spaces are really are important, are precious, and are perhaps the future of bringing people together.  Chris Greenspon  20:37   What I want to go out on is...nonstop we were hearing leading up to this, you know, in our previous interview with Marcus and Robert, about the history of ArroyoFest and people were saying, you know, just regular everyday people were saying, "Oh, who knows this isn't going to happen again, for 20 years." That joke certainly got beaten to death. But I'm wondering in your seasoned opinions. Do you think that within a more reasonable timeframe, we can do an open freeway event again, maybe not on the 110? And if so, where would you suggest but do you think it's within grasp? Joe Linton  21:16   Yeah, I mean, I think the wild rousing success of ArroyoFest says there's an appetite for this, that this is a fun thing, and that Angelenos will show up. I think you need to pick a freeway that's close to transit. A lot of freeways are really boring spaces that I think the Arroyo Seco Parkway, the 110 Freeway between downtown and Pasadena is probably head and shoulders, the most picturesque freeway on the west coast...maybe not the west coast, but certainly in Southern California. But I think you have to pick it well. I think you can't just say, "Hey, we're gonna close the, the 405 in Westwood, everybody show up." There's folks thinking about this at Active SGV at CicLAvia that could probably figure out where, where it makes sense to do it. But it is very difficult to work with Caltrans to repurpose Caltrans space for anything other than lots and lots of cars all the time. And I think there there are glimmers of change at that. But when you do a bike path project, and it takes three inches of Caltrans space away, it takes decades to get that project approved. And I think some of that's changing, but I mean, hopefully the success of a royal fast helps pull Caltrans into a more multimodal acceptance of this sorts of shared space. But I've perhaps been in the trenches too long to expect that we'll see ArroyoFest three anytime soon, and that we'll see other open streets events on freeways soon, but I hope I'm wrong. Damien Newton  23:03   Well, and there's the holy grail to have a freeway closure. I mean, on the west side, we had the 90 freeway debate briefly. We talked about possibly doing a study and the local advocacy group Streets for All was his was trying to get a federal grant to do a study and everyone seemed on board with it. And then a couple of neighborhood councils found out about it and flipped out because that's the role of our neighborhood council system to flip out and stop good things from happening. And they were successful. The mayor was, I believe one person said it might have been Ted Rogers, that she was "for it before she was against it." And she came out against it. And these freeway closures, though that I mean...that's after CicLAvia for a couple of years, we had pretty good momentum and building bike infrastructure. And as far as I mean, some of it was Sharrows. But 2010 We were happy just to get Sharrows some places. You know, Villaraigosa had, Mayor Villaraigosa the mayor of LA, had a goal for 200 miles of bike infrastructure year, including those dastardly sharrows. But still, it was happening and there was momentum and for whatever reason, maybe it's Villaraigosa got rid of the low hanging fruit. Maybe it's because Garcetti was too tactical, but that momentum really stalled and fizzled during the Garcetti years. So is the momentum here to do another ArroyoFest? Or is the momentum to go that big next step and look at the freeways that aren't seeing huge volumes of traffic, aren't seeing a regular influx of cars and say, "do we need this or can we do something else with this land?" The 90 may be off the table now, thanks to some crazy angry people. But they've been entirely... Joe Linton  24:36   ...It does look like it lost a lot of momentum. But I don't think it's a shut book just yet.  Speaker 2  24:42   That's exciting for me. But, you know, the battle over the 710 extension was was decades and I think that ArroyoFest shows that maybe we don't need those freeways, especially the ones that aren't your commuter freeways. And that's a lot of land to do something else with. They always say, "we're not growing more land or making more land," but we kind of can if we repurpose land that's not being utilized to the best extent that it is. Chris Greenspon  25:06   Well, that's a fabulous note to go out on. Joe Linton  25:09   Well, actually one one more closing note.  I heard at least a few folks showed up at a row fest that was their first open streets event. So there are regular open streets events, and the next one coming up is in South LA on Martin Luther King Boulevard, the date is December. Damien Newton  25:30   I think it's the 3rd but I'm looking at I think it's December 3, but I'm just double checking it, but it's definitely the first Sunday in December. Joe Linton  25:36   Yes, the first time in December. We think it's December 3 on Martin Luther King Boulevard in South LA. So check them out there. They're always a treat. And I think they do give you a sense of what NLA that's less totally festooned with cars might look like. Chris Greenspon  25:54   All right, well, that wraps us up for SGV Connect 120. In the meantime, listen to these sounds of ArroyoFest. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

144: Abortion and Fresno City Council, Villaraigosa and high-speed rail, bills signed last minute by KSEE24

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El presidente Joe Biden viajó a la costa oeste de EE.UU. este lunes para evaluar los daños causados por los incendios forestales. Pero esa no es la única crisis ni el único fuego que tiene que apagar Biden.Biden viajó a Long Beach, California, para participar en el mitin de campaña del gobernador Gavin Newsom en la víspera de la elección de destitución que enfrenta el gobernador. Y es que en EE.UU. hay muchos ojos puestos en California. Este martes se decidirá si Newsom sigue en el cargo o no. Fernando del Rincón charla con Michelle Martínez exconcejal de Altadena y con Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa, ex alcalde de la ciudad de Los Ángeles sobre el futuro de esta elección.Para conocer sobre cómo CNN protege la privacidad de su audiencia, visite CNN.com/privacidad

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Adam and Dr. Drew open the show discussing the work of Dr. Deborah Soh whom Drew has been conversing with of late and why she is being chastised within the academic world for her thoughts on some specific cases within the trans community. They then turn to the phones and speak to a caller from Portland who has some ideas about possible ways to bring unity back to our nation. They also speak to a caller who wants their thoughts on California's Prop 22 regarding Uber & Lyft drivers ability to operate as independent contractors. Please Support Our Sponsors: Butcherbox.com/Adam

Former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sounds off on Donald Trump's response to the nationwide protests and rioting. Then, Breitbart's Joel Pollack tells Larry why he thinks Twitter is on a slippery slope after fact-checking the president's tweets.

Our featured “Buen Hombre” this week is none other than Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa, a street fighting kid who inspired by his mother’s guidance, years of determination and a clear vision of the idea of service became the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles, from 2005 to 2013. Villaraigosa ran for governor of California in 2016, making it to the final run off between Newsome and Cox in November of 2018.  Villaraigosa’s life has been a testament to the relevance of civic engagement and participation and his biggest campaign and area of emphasis of efforts is getting out the vote in 2020. Join Enrique Morones this week as he reconnects with his old friend Antonio and they reflect on the road to bringing all voices of our communities together to make community life work for all of us.  Before becoming mayor, Villaraigosa was a member of the California State Assembly (1994–2000), where he served as the Democratic leader of the Assembly (1996–98), and the Speaker of the California State Assembly (1998–2000). As Speaker, Villaraigosa was an advocate for working families and helped to write legislation protecting the environment, expanding healthcare access, and increasing funding for public schools. He ran for mayor in 2001 against Los Angeles City Attorney James Hahn, but lost in the second round of voting. Villaraigosa ran for and was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2003. In 2005, he ran for mayor again in a rematch against Hahn and won. During his tenure as mayor, he gained national attention for his work and was featured in Time's story on the country's 25 most influential Latinos. He was the first Mexican American in over 130 years to have served as Mayor of Los Angeles. As Mayor, Villaraigosa spearheaded policies to improve student outcomes in the Los Angeles Unified School District, reduce city and highway traffic, and enhance public safety. Since leaving office in 2013, Villaraigosa has continued to be actively engaged in education, civic engagement, water, immigration, transportation, and economic development issues. He speaks nationally and throughout California on these issues. Villaraigosa is a member of the Democratic Party, and was a national co-chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, a member of President Barack Obama's Transition Economic Advisory Board, and Chairman of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in September 2012.  https://www.facebook.com/AntonioVillaraigosa/ (https://www.facebook.com/AntonioVillaraigosa/) https://twitter.com/AVillaraigosa (https://twitter.com/AVillaraigosa)              https://www.instagram.com/antonioforcalifornia/ (https://www.instagram.com/antonioforcalifornia/) Buen Hombre /Magnificent Mujer is a project of GenteUnida.net A 501c3 nonprofit corporation and all donations are tax deductible.  https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=qxzx4dXXp5A87dyJMH2NwYxYdjWY_KxzUsrfUv_mqgwiVEzSZjoEB3Mq_L_DXPVU2bRlB0&country.x=US&locale.x=US (Donate to Buenhombre/MagnificentMujer) Support this podcast

On Monday, the singer-songwriter Taylor Swift endorsed two Democrats for the US mid-term elections, prompting Mr Trump to tell reporters that he likes "Taylor's music about 25% less now". Swift's comments appear to have contributed to a spike in online voter registrations, especially among young people, according to the voter registration site Vote.org. However, Vote.org said it was not possible to measure the direct impact of Swift's decision to wade into politics - taking into account looming registration deadlines in a number of states and other factors. Swift's remarks once again puts her at odds with West, with whom she has had an on-off public feud since he interrupted her acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards. In September, West, who is married to Kim Kardashian, wore a hat with Donald Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again" during his performance of Ghost Town on the US comedy show Saturday Night Live. He ended his segment by delivering an impromptu off-air speech praising the president, posted online by members of the audience. "So many times I talk to a white person and [they] say: 'How could you like Trump, he's racist?'" he said. "Well, if I was concerned about racism I would've moved out of America a long time ago." Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is facing scrutiny from a conservative watchdog group for possibly violating fundraising rules in a slate mailer, with the group requesting that Waters’ campaign committee be audited as a result. The Federal Election Commission received a complaint Monday from the National Legal and Policy Center claiming that Waters, her campaign, and a pro-charter school group called Families and Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa violated federal election law. The complaint claims the group paid $25,000 for Villaraigosa to be featured in the Waters mailer when he was running for governor in the Democratic primary earlier this year. Although candidates can pay a fee to be included in slate mailers, it’s illegal for outside groups such as Families and Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa to make such a payment.

Today's guest is my friend Nick Melvoin. Nick has spent his career fighting for our city’s schoolchildren. He believes that together, with the right leadership, we can ensure that every student in Los Angeles has the opportunity to succeed. Born and raised on the Westside of LA, Nick served as a seventh and eighth grade English teacher at Markham Middle School, an LAUSD campus in Watts, where he coached soccer and baseball and helped his students launch a school newspaper. At Markham, he saw firsthand how LAUSD failed to support schools and neglected the needs of our city’s most vulnerable students. When he and two-thirds of Markham’s teachers lost their jobs due to budget cuts, he fought to be re-hired and worked to end the indiscriminate, seniority-based teacher layoffs that harm so many LA families. As a teacher, Nick joined the ACLU, Mayors Riordan and Villaraigosa, and others to bring a ground-breaking civil rights lawsuit which argued that LA’s layoffs violated the rights of students. They won. Nick holds a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a Masters in Urban Education from Loyola Marymount University (LMU), and a law degree from the New York University School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar. In addition to serving as a teacher, Nick has worked in the Obama White House with the Domestic Policy Council and the US Attorney’s office where he took part in various civil rights investigations as a legal clerk. Today, Nick leads and facilitates efforts by students, parents, teachers, and community members to rethink and shape the future of our city’s schools. He is also an adjunct professor at LMU where he teaches teachers how to improve their own advocacy in the classroom. In working for nonprofits such as Teach Plus and Educators 4 Excellence, Nick helps to improve the support teachers across the state receive before and during their time in the classroom, as well as amplify teacher voice in policy-making. Nick serves on the boards of the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, Brentwood Community Council, Teach For America Associates, University Synagogue's Social Justice Committee, and United in Harmony. He is a graduate of the Jewish Federation’s New Leaders Project and the New Leaders Council and chairs the Jewish Federation’s Educators’ Network. Nick is also proud to serve as a director of Camp Harmony, a camp for homeless and underserved children. His commitment to solving educational inequity was first sparked as a volunteer at Camp Harmony more than fifteen years ago. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/7questions/support

This week: Former rivals Newsom & Villaraigosa vow to work together to defeat Republican Cox in the race for Governor, CA Community College system shifts to "performance-based budgeting" & the story behind $300M in new funds for low-performing students in the budget.

It's a battle out there. You know that. That doesn't mean you should hide or avoid the battle. In the political world, and the question of whether laws will protect vulnerable live, lives are at stake.  Don't drop out or shrink back from your responsibility to ensure that the vulnerable are protected. As a citizen it is your responsibility, and substituting emotional feeling-stuff instead of speaking up about your own laws is not facing the reality of the times in which we live. As in our previous program, Brian uses the very specific election of 2018 to actually examine deeper, ongoing issues that tend to come up in most elections. Failure to understand these deeper issues only ensures that you will be confused about what to do the next time around. Brian examines the most important race in California and how attempts by 'deep state players,' many of them billionaires from out of state, have been specifically designed to mislead and alienate pro-life voters.   In California's primary system, only the top two go on to the fall ballot. These top two can actually be of one party, greatly limiting the choice of voters in November. In a state like California, if the Republicans should split their vote and the top Republican is prevented from being in the top two, because Republican votes were also siphoned off to other candidates, then two Democrats would be the only choice in the fall - in this case Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco and Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, both pro-abortion, leftist Democrats. A minor assemblyman is getting millions in out-of-state support to declare he is pro-life, even though he avoided the pro-life issue like the plague. Millions are being spent to suck votes away from the committed and solid pro-life candidate John Cox.  Brian tells how to determine when a candidate is lying to you for their own gain.  The first rule is to look at what their commitments have been. The best indicator of what someone will do, is to look at what they have done. If they are sorry for their past errors, it is possible to get them to renew commitments, but not to 'say words.' They need to commit to specific policies. John Cox has been a long-time advocate for life.  He has also signed a specific pledge to pro-life policies and to appoint pro-life judges. Travis Allen's avoidance and even negative votes, as well as his unwillingness to sign a specific pledge to pro-life policies, is an indicator that he is mouthing words in accommodation for the out-of-state players who seek to divide the Republican vote.  On May 14, 2018 the State Fair Political Practices Commission confirmed that the millions in backing Allen has received (much of it from progressive, pro-abortion billionaire Michael Bloomberg) is designed specifically to ensure Republicans split their vote and aid Villaraigosa. The disclaimer required by the FPPC states it expressly. Republicans are being snoockered into 'belief in Allen' for the express purpose of keeping Republicans from having a candidate on the fall ballot. This is politics. You must learn how to see it clearly and fight in this very real battle of ideas. Brian mentions other candidates and legislators that explicitly lied about their positions and showed that then by their votes. Congressman Brian Bilbray misrepresented what he would do in office. Right to Life voters opposed him in the next election, he needed them to win and made the deep mistake of lying to them. Assemblyman Rocky Chavez is another candidate that turned-coat upon being in office. He is now opposed by those whom he turned on. Politics is about digging deep into the battle of ideas, finding the truth, and fighting for the truth, especially on life, because life matters.  The facts are indeed on our side, and facts are terrible things to waste!

Housing has become a major issue in California's race for governor. With the June primary less than a month away, Matt and Liam dive into each of the candidate's plans to solve our affordability crisis. First, the Avocado of the Fortnight takes Matt to an extremely hot property in San Jose (2:50). Then a discussion of how gubernatorial candidates handled housing questions in this week's debate (6:10). Liam walks us through each of the candidate's plans--Newsom (13:00), Cox (18:00), Villaraigosa (20:00), Allen (23:00), Chiang (25:15), and Eastin (27:00). Finally, a roundtable with veteran political reporters Laurel Rosenhall of CALmatters and Phil Willon of the L.A. Times on how housing has played out in the race for governor. Be sure to check out CALmatters' voter guide (https://elections.calmatters.org/2018/)and Liam's breakdown of the candidate's plans (https://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-may-2018-california-s-gubernatorial-candidates-1525972798-htmlstory.html).

Who is Antonio Villaraigosa? The Democrat is running to become California's first Latino governor since 1875. He broke ground as Speaker of the California Assembly and Mayor of Los Angeles. In this in depth interview with Elex Michaelson, Villaraigosa reflects on a troubled childhood, 40 years of public service, and newfound happiness in his personal life. He shares his jobs plan for California & why he feels some fellow Democrats have it wrong when it comes to healthcare. He also talks about immigration, housing, homelessness, and more. Following Elex's talk with Villaraigosa, he talks with USC's Dan Schnur for analysis on the governor's race as a whole. ---------- The Issue Is: with Elex Michaelson is California's only statewide political show, broadcast from FOX 11 Studios in Los Angeles. For airtimes and more information, go to TheIssueIsShow.com.

This week: CA Charter Schools Association endorses Villaraigosa for Gov., a surprise increase in federal funding for child care and education in the new budget, the state's new plan to deal with disproportionate numbers of inexperienced and ineffective teachers in low-income schools & more

AG Jeff Sessions to make major sanctuary announcement in Sacramento, Northridge home busted for operating as an illegal night club, Silicon Valley techies are over living there, Villaraigosa and Newsom want to build more houses in California than ever before, Sam Nunberg’s meltdown

This week: voters have a more positive view of the CA School Dashboard than expected, LCFF funds are improving grad rates and math scores — especially for low-income students, Brown asks for more budget transparency from districts, and Newsom & Villaraigosa running neck and neck in the race for Gov. Produced by Sarah Tan

Friday Java the political magazine with a full cup of Coffee and a few polling numbers in between the refills. La revista política con una taza llena de café y algunos números de las encuestas entre las recarga News and Guts from Dan Rather https://www.newsandgutsmedia.com Public News Service http://www.publicnewsservice.org Senate 2018: Republicans Still Have Plenty of Targets http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/senate-2018-republicans-still-have-plenty-of-targets/ Newsom, Villaraigosa in Virtual Tie, Feinstein Leads de León by Double Digits Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).  http://www.ppic.org/press-release/newsom-villaraigosa-virtual-tie-feinstein-leads-de-leon-double-digits/  

Murderer awarded $65k after female prison instructor forced him to be sex slave, Newsom and Villaraigosa virtually tied in governor's race, Girl Scout has people talking after selling cookies outside pot shop, Opioid epidemic and the impact on life expectancy

For four years now, former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat, has been out of office, out of mind; not a good launching pad for the 2018 election for governor. So now, in addition to his Democrat advisers, he’s working with two Republican strategists. In an interview with This Golden State’s Randy Shandobil, Villaraigosa talks about how he’ll focus on those Californians who feel left behind economically. When Shandobil reminds Villaraigosa that is sounds like a key part of the Trump campaign, Villaraigosa gets a bit defensive.

California has been proudly fighting the war on climate change for over a decade. But can it can grow its economy and tackle climate change at the same time? Kevin de León, President pro Tempore, California State Senate Melanie Mason, Reporter, Los Angeles Times Antonio Villaraigosa, Former Mayor of Los Angeles This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on October 5, 2016.

This special, invitation only event with Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa is part of the Leading from the West series, and sponsored by the Bedrsoian Center on Governance, METRANS, and the Sol Price School of Public Policy. Bedrosian Center Director Raphael Bostic and METRANS center Director Gen Giuliano will talk with Mayor Villaraigosa about the unique challenges and opportunities for transportation in the city.

March 3, 2012 @ the Westin Bonaventure Hotel

March 3, 2012 @ the Westin Bonaventure Hotel

March 3, 2012 @ the Westin Bonaventure Hotel

March 3, 2012 @ the Westin Bonaventure Hotel

March 3, 2012 @ the Westin Bonaventure Hotel

March 3, 2012 @ the Westin Bonaventure Hotel