This is Gary and Shannon and you're listening to KFI AM six forty the Gary and Shannon Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Embracing Boredom. There was an article in Vox all about embracing boredom, something we don't do anymore, and.
It's pretty good for us.
It turns out we can use boredom to our advantage, and so we'll talk about that because sometimes you're on your phone and you're scrolling and you know you're wasting time, and it's so easy, and you realize that there is a little benefit or a lot of a benefit to just sitting in stillness, right. I mean, you don't have to be a Buddhist monk and wear the robes and shave your head and live in silence, but it is nice not to be inundated with stimulation all the time.
It's good for you.
We've talked about it before, So a trick on how to embrace boredom, whether you're standing in the checkout line or getting the car washed or what have you. Coming up later in the show, we're going to be talking about compatibility. There are questions that therapists would ask, and the love is blind pods to assess compatibility.
If you haven't seen.
Love is Blind, good for you. I, on the other hand, I'm fully entrenched in Love is Blind.
I've watched all of the seasons.
It's awful television, highly addictive, garbage television. It does nothing for your intellectual health.
But here we are.
Love is Blind is a show based on a group of men and a group of women, usually late twenties, early thirties, and they meet each other in these pods. They don't see each other. They have these long conversations. They are armed with questions for each other to get to know each other, and at the end they settle
on one person. Usually they they're into two or three people, and then they whittle it down to one person, and then they propose to them at the end, And the first time that they see each other is after proposal has already been done, or it's at the time when they first see each other, as when they propose, and nobody pulls out of it, because then you look like an a hole, because then it's just that you don't like the way he looks or she looks, or what
have you. But anyway, then they follow them to a resort where they live together for the first time, and then they follow them home where they live together the first time in real life. But there are questions that arise in the pods of is this somebody who I could live with forever? And what kind of questions would you think to ask if your son or daughter brought home someone and they were serious, what question would you say that they would have to get asked before they
took the next step. Let us know using the talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app, because we will get to that coming up later this hour. Well, Trump's speech to Congress has all of the ingredients for a show. In fact, that is what he is telling us. That is going to be must see TV. The Trump says on the social the night will be big. He will tell it like it is. And like I said earlier, I mean,
this isn't emboldened Trump. You're coming off the news that President Zelenski and Ukraine now regrets that Oval Office meeting with Trump. That's what he said, It did not go the way it was supposed to be. That he is ready, that Ukraine is ready to work fast end the war. Trump's going to see this as a major win and tonight will be his victory.
Lap, Make no mistake about it.
He is going to be emboldened and it's going to be interesting to what he says when it comes to the tariffs. Right when you look at China and Mexico and Canada and what we bring in.
The Target CEO already.
Saying that you're going to see fruits and vegetable prices go up because Target relies heavily on Mexico during the winter. So what kinds of things will we see and how quickly? And just don't put any credence into those things. When it comes to what a trade war would do to inflation? What's the endgame here? Is it just about the fentanyl? Will he address that? Those are all things that I'm interested to hear, and he will be speaking at six pm our time. You would call it a state of
the Union. I mean, it's got all of the bells and the whistles. It's got the Chambers of Congress, it's got the Supreme Court Justices, you've got the secret person in the secret room. If the whole place is blown up, all of that, it's just not called state of the Union because of where it lands. But this is the first time that he's going to be addressing Congress since he took office, So it may be it may be at the least contentious. There is going to be some protesting.
When it comes to Democrats, there is going to be some talking back. It is going to be a show, make no mistake about it. When it comes to what's going on locally at LA City Hall. Right now, I am watching people from the LA Fire Department, whether it's fire department union members or what have you, kind of make their way into city Hall chambers. This is the first time Kristin Crowley has appeared in public since she was fired two weeks ago by Karen Bass, the mayor.
This is the fight over who did what or who didn't do what when it came to the fires. Michael Monks from KFI News is in the chambers right now. She's expected Kristin Crowley to make an appeal to the council to save her job or to get her job back as fire chief. And like I said, you could see the slew of people in LA Fire Department T shirts make their way inside. Michael Monks from KFI News
is inside. He has been texting me. He says it is capacity crowd, hot is ticket in town, all the media is there, a lot of Union supporters there as well, but bass Is support are there as well. Public comment until eleven forty five, he says, and then maybe showtime. So right now, probably you're going to get a lot of comments on both sides from people with the fire department and people with the Bass camp, and then the council will ask questions or you'll hear from Kristin Crowley
at eleven forty five, possibly both. Again, I'm not sure what the council can do in terms of giving her her job back. Karen Bass is not there, as Michael Monks reported to us early, She's been going about her day tweeting about the oscars and things like that kind of treating this is rather insignificant.
As she moves forward, We're past that, We're.
Moving on the way that she explained it was that Kristin Crowley was shown the door at the fire department because it was under Kristin Crowley's watch that a thousand firefighters were not at their post when the fire broke out, that they were in fact sent home. The fact that Kristin Crowley did not fill out the after action.
Report post fires. This is all clerical and silly.
The reason behind this is that Kristin Crowley came out and laid Karen Bass squarely under the bus, saying that City Hall and Karen Bass cut the fire department and that it showed when those fires made their ways through the Palisades and Alta Dina. All right, Coming up next, we will go live to get a reaction on Capitol Hill about the address, what lawmakers are expecting, and what those fireworks will be when we hear from the President tonight at six. Do you know the story about Ruby Frankie.
This was the mom of six kids who pretty much filmed her kids growing up and put it on YouTube. There's this whole world that I was ignorant to families that document their kids' lives and they share it and just some of the intimate stuff as well about their kids' lives, things that you would never think to share maybe with your best friend or family or something like that about your kids, but putting it out there on
YouTube for everyone to see. It is a whole industry, and these people are making thousands of dollars, tens of thousands of dollars a month by seemingly exploiting their kids for hits and likes and comments and fame, and she is kind of the poster child for how it can all go wrong. There is a new documentary it's called The Devil in the Family. I fell into it yesterday on Hulu, and I think my jaw was open for about eighty percent of the time I was watching this.
It's just three parts, and the husband features prominently in the documentary, and the whole time, I'm just wondering, what's wrong.
With this guy?
He seems like such a good guy, normal smart. How would you just go along for this crazy train ride for as long as that he did. Anyway, we'll get into it in the whole industry coming up in true Crime Tuesday Crime, because yeah, this is a mom that is serving time because of what she did to her kids towards the end of seeking fame with her YouTube channel. America's two biggest lottery games are on the up and up. There was no grand prize winner in the Powerball drawing yesterday.
That jackpot has been pushed up to two hundred and ninety five million dollars ahead of the next drawing on tomorrow. I believe ahead of that, there's another chance to get rich with mega millions. Tonight's drawing stands at two hundred and fifteen million dollars with a cash option just shy of one hundred and one million bucks.
Here's something fun to look forward to.
Possibly, John Stewart is inviting Elon Muks to be a guest on The Daily Show. Stuart criticized Musk's doze last week, and Elon posted on X he'd go on the show if the interview aired unedited, and then on the show yesterday, John and Stuart says that they would be delighted to have him. It can be fifteen minutes, an hour, two hours, whatever, so that would be fun to watch that conversation between the two. We are in the midst of swamp watch
and a lot to do. We knew that when Trump swept back into office there would be no boring swamp watch, and there hasn't been, and my goodness. Usually a joint addressed to Congress by a president is a snooze event. It is something that we often think, oh, we should probably listen to this, we should probably hear it, but you don't really want to. It's not going to be entertaining with President Biden. It got uncomfortable, didn't it. It gets boring, It can get preachy at times, depending who
the president is. It's the same kind of verbiage about moving America forward, and it's a pat on the back, and it's here's what I want to do. All these untenable goals. It's just the same, of the same and more of the same. But tonight, tonight may be some fireworks. President Trump calling it must see TV, saying it's going to be a big night. We've got the backdrop, a
backdrop of a trade war. We've got Ukrainian President Zelenski coming out and saying he regrets what happened in the Oval Office, which is sure to be a win in Trump's mind. Kelly Meyer joins US Now Washington correspondent in DC for our News Nation. Kelly is the one who asks all the tough questions running around Capitol Hill all day long. And Kelly, what is the vibe today on Capitol Hill? Yeah?
And right now we're actually over at the White House right now as President Trump is getting ready for his speech tonight, and this will be his big address to Congress, of his first address to Congress, of his second term. A White House special to tell us that it's expected to go about an hour, but they do tell us as well that he's going to address some of the accomplishments, they say, of his first month in office, talking Bucky economy,
the border, and also foreign policy. So we can expect to hear more on the plan for peace as he's called it in Ukraine, as has been back and forth between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zlinsky, to say the least after that Oval Office blow up last Friday. We'll also be watching for this trade war that's kind of really been kicking off just in the last few hours here, as President Trump put those twenty five percent tariffs on
Canada and Mexico. Then now we're seeing and as well as China, and then now we're seeing those countries firing back against Trump. So now this is kind of going back and forth, so we can't expect maybe more talk of that tonight too, but as always, we're kind of expecting the unexpected as well.
About the trade wars.
This is something that the President has not wavered on because he has said it has to do with fentanyl crossing the borders, at least when it comes to Mexico and Canada. Taken to the numbers, Mexico's much more the culprit. I believe there were maybe nineteen interactions involving fentanyl at the US Canadian border just last year, as opposed to something like ninety six hundred with Mexico.
Is it just about the fentanyl?
Will he lay out his end game for these tariffs now that we've been hit with retaliatory tariffs?
Do you think?
I mean, even he is threatening, just not too long ago on truth Social about putting more tariffs back on Canada. If they're hitting back with retaliatory tariffs, he's talking about the reciprocal tariffs that will go back on in the same amount. So he's still playing hardball with this. He's still threatening to come back with even more tariffs on these countries. We don't know exactly what kind of impact we're going to see here. I've talked to advisors here
at the White House. They said that this is going to not hurt American pocketbooks. But there are Democrats on Capitol Hill kind of rallying ahead of this address tonight, saying it is going to be consumers that are going to be hit hard from these tariffs, so a lot up in the air, but a lot happening in the last few hours.
So Elon Musk will be there tonight. We saw him at the Cabinet meeting last week. He seems to be a common fixture there. What administration officials saying this afternoon there will be a lot of surprises and a lot of made for TV moments. Any idea what those would entail, We don't know just yet.
We are at the White House that we might check back and see if there's anything else they could share. A lot they're keeping under wraps. We know the theme, we know what they're going to hit on, we know some of the guests they're going to have there with the First Lady, about fifteen guests total, and traditionally presidents use that as a way to highlight parts of their agenda. But we don't know exactly what the surprises might be.
But we do know if they've been pointing to this as more of a you know, made for TV production type. He has done reality TV. It is somewhat of the Trump Show. So they did say to Toomid and that they called it must see TV. At least Caroline Levett herself called it that to us.
Have you heard anything in in terms of protests.
I read that there are some Democrats that will have some sort of showing of resistance, I guess for lack of a better word.
Yeah, And I think we can't expect that there's going to be some members that are just not going at all. We've heard more and more throughout the day that there's some members announcing that they're just not going to go. There's something, you know, they'll wear something specific or color and as a way of kind of protesting. We don't know if we'll see any actions you know, we've seen in the past, you know, Pelosi rip up the speech
or do the kind of side alligator clap back. So there may be some moments, but it's definitely going to be something to watch to see exactly how they kind of push back against this. But we also know there's been things happening throughout the day outside the capital with Democrats speaking out with protests, so we can't expect it to be very lively for sure.
All Right, Kelly Meyer, White House correspondent there with News Nation, Thanks so much. A lot going on there today and you will stay on top of it. Just like News Nation always so appreciate your time.
Thank you, Thank you guys.
All right, coming up, Well, we will stand top of what's going on there and KFI will take the address live tonight at six o'clock. And if they're advertising made for TV moments, I think that's what we're going to get. This is not a Pambondi special. I think there is something in these binders, but we will find out. Remember
to let us know what is your compatibility question? There are therapists that work for the Love Is Blind franchise and say they've got a series of questions that they use for the kids and the pods to figure out if they're compatible with whoever's on the opposite side of the pod. What's your compatibility question? What do you think a couple should agree upon to go the distance? Let us know using that talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app and we will tackle that later this hour. Big day
locally and nationally when it comes to politics. Right now, all the doings going on are at La City Hall, where ousted fire chief Kristin Crowley is expected to plead for her job back to the city council. KFI news as Michael Monks is in the chambers and says the action's about to start within about ten minutes in terms of that agenda item coming.
Up, so we will take you there.
Lives should s go down, for lack of a better term, We've got President Trump addressing a joint session of Congress tonight at six pm, where.
He says it will be must see TV.
Of course, the backdrop of a trade war, all this mess with Ukraine. The Ukrainian President coming out today and basically giving President Trump a win, saying he regrets what happened in the Oval Office and that he's willing to work with the United States for peace.
Big news coming.
Out of the NFL Eagles rewarding Saquon Barkley with a two year, forty one point two million dollar contract extension makes him the highest paid running back in NFL history. Running Backs have had a tough road d hoe in recent years in terms of getting paid of viewed as expungible. This makes Saquon the NFL's first twenty million plus per year running back. Huge deal, not just for Saquon Barkley,
but what it means for other running backs. Not that he is not different, he is almost breaking Eric Dickerson's record for single season rushing yards this season alone, and just a great guy. I don't know him, but seemingly not a better guy. That could happen too. Dolly Parton's son, excuse me, she never had kids. Dolly Parton and her husband, they were together for sixty years.
Carl Dean, eighty two years.
Old, has died, and there are so many fun little things about their life together. That odd thing, I mean, I guess it's not odd, but they didn't have kids. In fact, that he kind of stayed out of the limelight. He went to one award show with her in sixty six and then said, you know what, I'm done with those. I love you, I'll support you, but I'm not dealing
with that anymore. She was talking in recent interviews about how the two would always have pancakes or waffles on the weekend, that it was their breakfast ritual, that those were comfort foods, and that they would share Sunday brunch together, and she said that that he was always her safety, her security, her strength. He's been a good husband, We've had a good life, and that she would have all she was She always said she'd put it all aside
if he needed her. She said, I would only retire if I was ill or if my husband was ill and he needed me. So together sixty years met at the Wishy Washy laundromat. I love that, and he said, upon meeting her, that's the one I'm going to marry. I love those stories boredom. There was an article in Vox about boredom because there was a guy who wrote
a book about it. James Dackert is him Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Waterloo, and his book is called Out of My Skull, The Psychology of Boredom, and it was interesting to me because we are not bored anymore. You probably remember life before cell phones. Maybe it was a long summer day, you didn't have anything going on, you didn't have to go to school, and the boredom sets in.
I'm bored.
If you had parents that said i'll give you something to be bored about, good for you. But it's not a thing that we engage in anymore. We don't have to. We're constantly stimulated by our phones, and you can argue whether that's good or that's bad, but there's no shortage of things to fill our time, if we're standing in line at the check stand or waiting for the car
to get washed or what have you. But James Dankert has written a book all about it and making the most out of boredom if it does strike you, and he's got these these ways of coping that I think could be helpful, probably for children, but now we're all children because we are so we have the ten and span of a gnat now because of the phones.
It's not just the kids that are addicted.
If we're being honest with ourselves, we're all addicted to being stimulated all the time. And so he says that when the feeling does arise is boredom, to use it as a reminder that what you're doing is not meaningful and seek out something that is. For instance, pop in a podcast while you're folding laundry. If you're dreading folding laundry because it's so bored, throw on a podcast. It makes it feel less like drudgery. Perhaps you go to YouTube you find a tutorial on making bread or something
like that. On an afternoon where the sky is gray and you've got nothing planned, Hey look at making bread and maybe get into that.
But I will caution you.
Once you get into bread making, or in my situation, my husband got into bread making, it is a dangerous road. Dangerous road when you come home and you smell that fresh loaf of sourdough on the counter, something that you don't ever want to give up, and nor do your thighs. For circumstances, he writes, where you're unable to up and leave, like school or work, he says, try to make the
experience more profound. Focus on why I am here and what's the deeper purpose so that the experience feels more meaningful.
Oh yeah, that's great advice.
You're sitting there bored at work or school, and you're supposed to think about why am I here? What gives this meaning? That's awful advice. I mean, come on, start making up false narratives about people you work with in their lives. That's a fun time. You're sitting in a boring meeting to be like, I wonder what he's into at home? You know, is this a guy who walks around in his underwear? Is his wife tired of that? That gives you more entertainment than thinking about your meaning
and your workplace. I say, if you're growing impatient on a long road trip, find challenges or ways to make the situation more stimulating, that car games exists for a reason, or make your own up. The author says, my brother and I growing up used to play this game called who would You ask for Help? In this room right now? If you had to pick one person to ask for help, who would it be? And why that's stupid? As well? Whether there's the fun in that find the most reliable
person and identify them. Now you want to play the game called who would you not ask for help? And then talk about why they're awful and why they would not be the person that you that you look to.
You know what, this is.
An awful book. I mean, I'm sure there's some I'm sure there's some good things in here. They say that the solution to a soul crushingly boring job might be to find another one. Well, no, s but it's not always easy or realistic for many people. So he suggests reframing your current employment situation. You're not living to work, you're working to live. Now that I can get on board with. I think too infrequently you're thinking that your job should be everything and it should be perfect for you.
And that's not what it's there for. It's just there for the money. You're just going there for the paycheck. If you're looking for fulfillment, look elsewhere. It's not at work. Probably except for my job. I feel totally fulfilled. I love it here. Coming up after Deborah's news at the top of the hour, Well, of course, Deborah will have all the news, and we will try to even give you more news when we talk about what's happening and
everything everyone's talking about everywhere. We tackle it all every day here at twelve o'clock on the Gary and Shannon Show. If you missed any of the show, make sure you subscribe to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app. There at Gary and Shannon, we are awaiting two things. One of the things is happening right now at La City Hall, as ousted fire Chief Kristin Crowley is there inside the chambers expected to ask the city council for her job. This is, I want to say, unprecedented, at least in
the twenty years that I've been reporting in La. This doesn't happen the mayor there.
Oh, and this is now do we have this anywhere?
Guys?
She has just taken a seat behind the podium there inside the council chambers. Kristin Crawley has to appeal to the City Council to be reinstated with her job.
We should have it up somewhere.
Channel four has it if we can pull that up, guys getting around to the plaza there, Kristin Crowley is it's filled, by the way. The chambers is with LA Fire Department officials, union members. They put out the call this morning and people answered. It is standing room only inside the LA City Hall chambers right now as she appeals for her job back.
We extended an invitation to Chief Crowley to speak to this hearing this morning to make the case, and so she has contented to join us this morning, and so we will hear from her first.
Good morning everyone, Good morning, Council President. Are honored and very very honored City Council members, our community members that have taken the time to be here and to listen in and two are amazing and incredible LAFD firefighters who do the work every single day. Thank you so much for being here. Now.
I stand.
Or sit.
Before you today not only as the former fire chief appealing to be reinstated, but as a leader who has always placed the safety, health and well being of our incredible and heroic firefighters first, while always balancing and prioritizing the needs of the community that we love to serve. Now, our firefighters, as you all know, are the absolute heart and soul of the LAFD. As public servants, we took an oath to place the needs of others before our
own at great personal risk. We will do anything and everything that we can do to save lives and to protect property. It is our calling and it is our duty. Now adds the fire Chief, it was my duty and responsibility to ensure that our firefighters have everything they need to do their jobs and to make sure that they go home to their families the next day.
Standing up.
Doing the right thing, and advocating for our firefighters, their families, and for the communities that we serve are the reasons that I am here today. Over my twenty five year career, in all of the ranks that I have held, I have seen our fire department struggle from year to year with limited funding, staffing, and resources. We are past the point of sustaining our services without compromising public safety and
the safety of our firefighters. For nearly three years as the fire chief, I have submitted realistic budget requests that were carefully crafted based on data, reports, analysis, and recommendations from outside independent agencies that show just how understaffed and under resource the LAFD is. Since twenty ten, there's been a fifty five percent increase in overall calls for fire and emergency services with fewer firefighters providing those life saving services.
And yes, the LAFD is half the size we should be regarding the firefighter or paramedic positions. Lack of long term investments in the LAFD. Budget cuts have led to increased response times, lack of available fire engines, trucks and ambulances, deleted civilians, support staff and mechanics, identified gaps in fire and emergency services, infrastructure challenges, firefighter fatigue, firefighter mental health concerns,
and injuries to our firefighters. We know that our firefighters are asked to do more with less every single day. When we fail to take care of our firefighters, we
fail to take care of our communities. I do believe that there is a path forward, one that finds a way to keep our communities safe by investing in long term strategies to build out the LAFD the right way, through your leadership, every single person around this horseshoe, through your leadership, the support of our amazing communities that we love to serve, and the continued dedication and commitment sacrifice
of our firefighters. I am certain, deep down in my heart that we can find a way to fund and support the LAFD now and into the future. Next, in regard to my appeal, now, I will set the record straight about the multiple false accusations that were made against me. First, I did not refuse to conduct an after action report, and let me be clear, this is a false accusation.
During our discussions after an action after report, I should say, during our discussions about and after action report, I advised the fire commissioners about my opinion that was best in regard to how to use LAFD resources, I said that the LFD is not capable nor do we have the proper resources to adequately conduct an after action report for
the Palisades fire. Due to the sheer, magnitude, scope and complexity of the incident, we are already understaffed, under resourced, underfunded, and based on my knowledge of the lafd's resources and capabilities, I recommended simply to collaborate with Governor Newsom's already selected and funded Agency Fire Safety Research Institute or FSRI, because they are already conducting in independent analysis of the windstorm and fire events in the Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.
In contrast to the LAFD, FSRI has a capability to conduct a proper, thoroughly researched and analyzed after action report and wildfire analysis.
And listening to Kristin Crowley, ousted fired chief here in La pleading for her job back at city Hall, you're listening to KFI kosd HD two Los Angeles or Inn County.
This is what they are already being paid to do. Prior to me leaving the meeting, the fire commissioners agreed with my recommendation that FSRI is the best equipped to conduct the after action report. FSRI will also be publishing its findings and recommendations, like it did for the line of fire that occurred in early August twenty twenty three on the island of Maui. Now, my position has not changed, and I wholeheartedly support the need for a professional organization
to conduct a full analysis of the Palisades fire. We owe that to the community. We owe that to the Fire Service, and that is the path forward. These steps are essential to improving response efforts, guiding recovery, and building a better and safer disaster resilience community for our future. Second, on the morning of the fire, I did not send home one thousand firefighters who could have hopped on fire engine and fought the Palisades fired, Nor did I leave
forty available fire engines unstaffed. These are all false accusations. As well, the forty fire engines in question were already staffed and running nine one one calls with on duty personnel in their normal configuration when the Palisades fire broke out. Those fire engines were appropriately staffed and were used where
they were needed. Additionally, at eight hundred hours on January seventh, twenty twenty five, the LAFD pre deployed twenty four engines, three battalion command teams, five brush patrols, two water tenders, additional air operations personnel, and additional dispatchers. These one hundred and twenty eight pre deployed and augmented personnel were strategically placed in wildfire prone areas across the entire city, near
multiple freeways to ensure a rapid response. Our action were based on the recommendations of our subject matter experts, the lafd's emergency operations staff. As for the thousand firefighters who allegedly were sent home prior to the fires, we did not have enough apparatus to put them on because of the budget cuts and lack of investments in our fleet maintenance.
Over one hundred of our fire engines, fire trucks and ambulances sat broken down in our maintenance yards, unable to be used to help during one of the worst wildfire events in our history. And third, it is also a false allegation that we failed to notify the Mayor's office about the upcoming weather event. I stand by our previous
statements about this. The LAFD engaged in all of its standard communications, including emailing two separate media advisories, conducting multiple live and recorded media interviews about the predicted extreme weather and fire danger, and also notify in city officials about the upcoming war other events. The Emergency Management Department also
plays a key role in notifying the Mayor's Office. In City officials and the Mayor's office itself also set out multiple media messages prior to the fire's warnings about the expected destructive and potential life threatening windstorm. It is never the wrong time to do the right thing and to
speak the truth. And the truth is that the fire chief should not be prevented from or punished for speaking openly and honestly about the needs and capabilities of the LFD, or for doing their best to protect our firefighters and our communities. In closing, it has been an absolute honor of my life to serve and represent the incredible men and women of the LAFD as their fire chief. Our people do amazing things every single day and I am so grateful beyond words to have been in this position
for nearly three years. We have much to be proud of, and we stand with and always will stand with the communities that we serve with integrity, compassion and courage. I urge you to vote to reinstate me as a fire chief. But no matter how the vote goes, the LAFD, your LAFD deserves to be properly funded, staffed, and resourced so that we can meet the ever growing needs of the community. We owe that to the LAFD, and we owe that to those we serve. Thank you.
All right.
That's Kristin Crowley, ousted fire chief there making her case to the city council to reinstate her as chief. We'll see if any of the council members ask questions of her or speak up here a couple of rows of firefighters applauding her comments there, all right.
Mister city attorney.
So to the extent and thank you for being here.
The extent that.
There is any additional discussion, I would just like to remind people in detail, because I know you were at the table at the time, that to please be cognizant of the attorney client privilege when it comes to answers or questions. That includes discussions that were held in closed session. That includes individual communications via email, text, or during conversations with the attorneys.
So thank you, all right, Council Member Rodriguez, thank you, Thank.
You Chief Crowley for being here. So, mister Harris Dawson, I have a question because there's also some additional information that I believe can corroborate some of what Chief Crowley has asserted in terms of her cooperation that could be validated by the CEO's office. Is it an opportunity for if Matt Zabo or Ben Seharer here to answer any questions, because what we're.
Discussing is Monica Rodriguez, council member from the seventh District.
Afford and honor the chief's appeal based on the cited reasons that we're disclosed by the mayor for her dismissal, and if we have facts to corroborate her position, I think that's that's warranted to be heard. And so my question is, would I be afforded the opportunity to ask mister Zabel to come forward on some of the assertions that were made that led to her dismissal so that we could correct the record.
I will defer to the city attorney on that question, but I will point out I will disagree with councilor. Remember Rodriguez, the city attorney was very clear that the mayor can fire the chief for any reason or for no reason at all. So whether or not we establish that we agree with the assessment that the mayor made or we don't agree with the assessment, it doesn't call into question the mayor's authority to make the decision that she did.
It's not questioning the mayor's authority. I'm not questioning the mayor's authority. I'm questioning what was cited as the reason. And if we're going to consider Chief Crowley's appeal, why wouldn't we consider the facts as we know them that could be corroborated by the CEO's office. And that's what I'm asking.
So they're asking this one who can show the math of why Kristin Crowley was showing the.
So again, it's fine to do that. I just want to be clear that even if you were to discredit every one of the reasons, it does not it does not in any way shade the mayor's authority in this regard. But we'll call the city administrative officer up to take the questions that you have, and we'll excuse Miss Crowley from the table at this time.
Matt Zabo, by the way, used to be Viara Gosa's a DRED years ago.
During our budget deliberations, your office recommended when we had requested investigating the fire department's request for the additional mechanics to repair the apparatus, when your office recommended against funding those positions. Was there anybody on your staff that went out to verify the number of apparatus that were out
of commission at the time. I'm looking at a memo dated May eighth, twenty twenty four, that your office does not recommend the department's requests for the additional positions.
I don't believe so, Matzebo, City Administrative Officer. The recommendation in the budget memo would have been related to the fact that the positions that were eliminated were vacant positions, and many of them had been vacant for some time.
All Right, So we'll pull away from this because they're going to get into the weeds of line by line of why the city Council made the decisions that it made with the help of the mayor to go ahead with these cuts that Christen Crowley just testified before the City Council, if that's the right word, that really led to the department being understaffed and underfunded to take on fires of this size are really just everyday business for
the fire department. Michael Monks from KFI News has been covering this story, joins us now and it seems like now, Michael, the city council members are asking the Controller's office for the city to kind of show the math behind the decision to get rid of Kristin Crowley, and because she's pushing back saying that she didn't make the decisions to keep those one thousand firefighters home, and that she gave the right reasons for more money to be sent to the fire department before the council.
Absolutely, I mean, this is going to be an argument today about math in a lot of ways. The main math equation we've been talking about is she needs ten on a of fifteen council members. But there's also budget math to look at, because in the aftermath of these fires, we heard Chief Crowley say, we didn't get the funding that we need to be as prepared as we should be for a massive wildfire like the one that devastated the Palisades. We don't have the manpower, and when we
do have manpower, we don't have the equipment. And so that's what they're going to be digging into. That's been her defense in many ways all along. Was the disaster unfolded the way it did not because I didn't send a text message to Mayor Bass about the forecast, but because we are not physically prepared to attack a fire of this nature in those conditions, because of decisions made outside of this department by city Hall.
Now she's making it less about her and her performance and more about the fact that she came before these same people and to her point, laid out why they are basically compromising the safety of all of us in Los Angeles and themselves with being so underfunded that there was outside resources, outside agencies that came in even and made the case that the LA Fire Department is vastly underfunded. So I guess we're going to hear a lot more of what was already litigated before these same people.
Certainly, you've got Matt Sabo, the city administrator there, who crafts the budget and presents it to council each year. I sat through a lot of budget meetings fast fiscal year leading up to this very budget that was approved, and there were certainly declarations of upset about the fire Department's budget, but every department was cut except for the Police department, Street Services, animal Services, public works. All of
the departments took hits except for the police department. But the Fire department was very vocal and even then that they were not getting their fair share of what they need. So that is documented. This city is in a financial crisis. Just about as it is anyway. Their financial condition has
only gotten worse this year. That guy that you just heard speaking, Matt Zabo, has his hands full with getting ready to enter another budget season in a year that's going to be far worse than it was last year, which was already bad.
All right, Michael Monks. Michael, by the way, came to LA and said, I want to live at City Hall. I want to be the reporter that pays attention to everything that's going on.
And he did. He basically lived at City.
Hall for a very long time and is entrenched for days like today when we need to know what the hell is going on. Everybody has their own story and he's been able to dig through the details and tell us what's what. Appreciate your time Michael today and he will be monitoring things as they continue there in the chambers and City Hall. We'll bring you all the pertinent information that comes out of that. Again, it's going to get very granular when it comes to line by line
budget items of who's telling the right story. We're probably going to find out in the end that yes, the LA Fire Department is underfunded, where's up money going and where did it go? Instead of the Fire Department. We don't have those answers at this point, but this may go the distance through the afternoon. Again, We'll stay on top of it, as will Michael Monks there from KFI News at La City Hall.
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