California Insider

“I’ve never seen a more insidious, inane, exploitive, and cruel plan put forth to the American public. You’re asking non-slave owners to pay people who were never slaves $5 million per black guy in San Francisco. The average household is going to have to pay $600,000.”

Siyamak sits down with Tony Hall, a former supervisor with San Francisco County. Today he’ll explain what California and San Francisco’s reparations plans entail, and why he thinks it’s not likely to happen.

“Residents are seeing homeless in the alleys, [there’s] dumpster fires, they’re cooking drugs, cooking meth … Individuals are defecating, shooting up heroin … It’s a matter of will from the city.”

Siyamak sits down with John Alley, real estate owner and co founder of The Santa Monica Coalition. Today, Mr. Alley explains why this coalition exists and why business owners in Santa Monica have decided to put up a sign saying Santa Monica is not safe.

“I’ve never believed in my wildest dreams that we would see it get this bad. These aren’t just people stealing property, it’s now getting very serious and escalating to violence.”

Siyamak sits down with John Kabateck, state director of the NFIB, which represents many small businesses in California. He tells us how businesses are impacted by crime, and what the impacts are if California does not fix its laws.

“The city has always been known for its progressive politics. But I liked that. I lived there until 2021—over 30 years. It’s become a place of such aggressive conformity. And if you don’t uphold whatever the most far-left narrative is, if you dare to ask any questions, you will be smeared and vilified, and pushed out of your job.”

Siyamak sits down with Jennifer Sey, former brand president of Levi’s and a long-time resident of San Francisco. Today she will talk about what caused her to leave California.

“It’s easy to ignore it when the numbers are small. But not only are the numbers getting bigger, but this cumulative effect is becoming more significant as well.”

Siyamak sits down with Jim Doti, an economist and former president of Chapman University. He talks about the growing trend of people leaving California and what impacts it has on the state.

“We’re not leading the way—we’re starting the way. And we’re letting other states lead the way. I consider Louisiana and Georgia to be our main competitors.”

Siyamak sits down with David Graves, Political Director with IATSE Local 728, which is a union from Hollywood. Today he will talk about what is happening to the film industry, and why they are leaving California.

“During the eviction moratorium, to ask a tenant to pay rent could be viewed as harassment to the tenant.”

Siyamak sits down with Chris Moore, board member of the Bay Rental Housing Association. He shares with us his first-hand experience being a landlord in California and why he thinks the eviction moratorium is hurting the tenants.

“And now they’re boxed into a corner, because now they can’t quite get out of it. Because if they do, if they change how they’re dealing with these issues, they have to admit that they were wrong.”

Siyamak sits down with Melissa Melendez, former California State Senator. Today she will talk about what has changed in California’s legislature over the past decade, and why some policies are not delivering what they promised.

“Prisons are a breeding ground, to become institutionalized and to learn, basically, how to do more crime and become worse.”

Siyamak sits down with former California inmate, Alfred Lopez. Incarcerated at 18, Lopez spent almost 30 years in prison. Today he will talk about what he saw in the prison system, and why it is so costly to incarcerate inmates.

“I’ve been doing TV and radio for 40 years, mostly criticizing politicians. I know how brutal it is, I know how your enemies will dissect things that you’ve said and put the worst spin on it, or will even make things up … But I think I bring a couple things to the table the others don’t.”

Siyamak sits down with Larry Elder, EpochTV host and political commentator. This is Elder’s first interview after he announced his run for president of the United States. In this episode, Elder talks about why he’s running for office and the issues he would address if elected.