@MicMonksLA Reports: Fire, Politics, & Hollywood

got another busy news week ahead. Tuesday morning. La City Hall ousted fire chief Kristin Crowley is going to plead for mercy and her job back. It's been eight days since Mayor Bas fired the veteran firefighter, saying Crowley had not been well enough prepared to defend the Palisades against the wildfire in January and that she did not informed the mayor well enough about just how serious the threat was.

So these two have been kind of at it quietly for a while, and since this public spat between Bass and Crowley emerged shortly after the palisades were destroyed. Questions have been raised about who knew what when, with a lot of emphasis on the fact that just about all of us knew there was a serious threat of fires before Mayor Bass left for Ghana, where she was asked to go to represent the US as that country's new president was to be inaugurated.

through of that tonight. But before we go back to the beginning of the warnings, which by the way, started all the way back on December thirtieth, I want to go to La City Hall now well City Hall on January seventh, that's the day the fire in the Palisades broke out, there was a city council meeting that day was a Tuesday, after all, and this is what happened. At the end of the meeting, where council members usually just make some general announcements about what's going on in

their districts. You will hear council President Markquise Harris Dawson call on council Member Tracy Park, who represents the West Side and the Palisades. All right, with a cleared desk, Are there any announcements members, any announcements?

to say about the fire department's budget. He also stood behind Bass during the press conference a week ago where the mayor dismissed Crowley, and he wasn't alone. Three other council members were there too, and that is also important.

When he took over as President of the council. Harris Dawson responded to some requests from the community that we need to have some council meetings in van Nis at the City Hall and van Nis and yesterday Friday was

the second time they did that this year. But since they were there, President Harris Dawson figured why not have this high profile fire chief appeal hearing there too, but not immediately after the council meeting, which usually ends around one maybe two o'clock at the latest, but at five o'clock in the afternoon on a Friday in the valley. Think about traffic conditions, Think about people's availability. Think about

the council members themselves. They represent all of la Would they hang out in van Nis for a few hours? Would they be able to go home or to their offices? Five o'clock on a Friday was the original announcement. So some council members spoke against that decision. Firefighters certainly spoke against it, and members of the community spoke against that decision.

So just as quickly as that meeting for yesterday was announced, it was canceled and it has been rescheduled for the regular city Council meeting that takes place on Tuesday morning at ten o'clock in downtown La at La City Hall. Now, there are three important things at play on Tuesday as I see it, And what do I know? I don't know, but this is what I see. Three things that are important. We've got the timeline of the warnings and the fire itself.

So what was the Weather Service saying? What do they tell the fire department and other emergency responders? And what was explaining to the Mayor's office and other city leaders. That's what The second important thing is the response itself. We saw the palisades burned down, and again this isn't erasure of the Eton fire. We're talking specifically about the one in La City limits because of what's happening on Tuesday. What about those thousand firefighters? Should they have been sent home?

Was there something more the fire department could have done? The response is going to be important. And lastly, the third item the math, the math of the whole thing. There is a certain equation at play. Former Chief Crowley will need ten of fifteen council members to say yes,

you can have your job back. So those three items are what I see is the most important aspects of the conversation that's going to take place Tuesday morning, maybe afternoon at La City Hall, and that is what we're going to dive into.

failed to tell her. Kay, if I has obtained the full details from the National Weather Service forecast office leading up to the fires, and so I want to do a quick recap and explain how it may or may not be as relevant to the facts, but it will certainly be an important part of the conversation on Tuesday.

flag warnings for Tuesday, January seventh through January tenth. So that was on December thirtieth that we get the first inclination that we've got conditions that may be right for fires, but that isn't necessarily significant in this region on its face all by itself. We have these things around here.

On Wednesday the first, they update their notes at the Weather Service and inform their partners at the fire departments and the emergent z responders moderate to high risk of red flag warnings over La in Ventura Counties from Monday night, January sixth through Friday, January tenth.

be aware of those things, but not unusual. On Friday the third, the White House announces that La Mayor Bass is going to represent the country in Ghana, where that country is set to inaugurate a new president. On the same day, the National Weather Service issues fire weather watches for much of La in Ventura Counties.

through Friday, they say. On Friday, January the third, they emphasize the heavy winds that we might have and those sorts of things. They also note that areas that do not typically see strong winds will be more vulnerable with this event due to strong and potentially long duration of upper level winds support. That's National Weather Service type language, but basically, if you don't usually get these big wins, you're going to feel some of them during this week.

truck to the Palisades and put it out. That's going to be an important piece of this conversation. What was known, what needed to be known, what more could have been known? These are concerning messages, right. We want to pay attention to these forecasts, but are they any different than what

we might have any other time of year. On Sunday, January fifth, Bass arrives in Ghana, and on that day, red flag warnings are issued for much of La in Ventura Counties, with fire weather watches still in effect Thursday night into Friday. On their one o'clock afternoon fire call, the National Weather Service notes widespread damaging north to northeast winds and long duration of red flag conditions likely over many portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties between Tuesday

and Friday. They emphasized some of the wins that we might see in various parts of the region. Monday is when things really got serious, when it was clearly something different. If you had only been paying a little bit of periphery attention. Monday was the wake up call that these conditions look serious enough, because that is the day. At three twenty four in the afternoon, the National Weather Service

upgraded the forecast to a particularly dangerous situation. They abbreviated PDS, and it's a long title, but it is a very rare issuance and obviously significant, particularly dangerous situation. Red flag warning for portions of La and Ventura Counties, Life threatening, destructive widespread windstorm Tuesday afternoon through early Wednesday afternoon with dangerous PDS. Red Flag Warning conditions for portions of La and eastern Ventura Counties. That was just before three thirty

afternoon on Monday, and the LA City Emergency Alerts. This is important. The City of Los Angeles their emergency Alerts sent out the note about this situation by sharing a link to the Fire Department detailing this stuff, and Mayor Bass herself her social media also shares her first statement about the conditions. Half an hour after that. Okay, so the PDS is issued just before three point thirty on Monday afternoon. LA City Emergency alert shares that information by

linking to the Fire department. At seven o'clock in the evening, Mayor Bass shares her first statement about it all about a half hour after that, albeit from Ghana, So it wasn't until Monday, the day before the fires hit, that we knew we were in a particularly dangerous situation, an official term by the National Weather Service. And then, of course we get to January seventh. By this point, the

fact that Bass is in Ghana is really irrelevant. The argument that we've been hearing is whether she should have gone did she have enough information? Did this city? Did Marquis Harris Dawson, the council president, did the fire department?

to reinstate her four members. We're at the press conference with Mayor Bass announcing the firing, and a fifth has since come forward to say he believes the mayors within a right to fire department head, so she can't lose anybody else. I'll be watching for city Councilmen Tracy Park who represents the Palisades, and Councilmen Monica Rodriguez, who maybe Rowley's potentially biggest allies on Tuesday, and I will be at city Hall. We will have live coverage right here

on KFI from the scene of this appeal. Hope you'll tune in for that. And up next, if you're supportive of President Trump and you're against Governor Newsom and you think all illegal immigrants should be deported, and you're a California voter, you are any significant minority in the state of California, we are gonna have details on this exhaustive state wide poll.

throughout the duration of this show. How popular is President Trump? Well, if you look at the rolling average the poll of polls basically on five point thirty eight, which analyzes polsters and combines polls along with their own algorithms to figure out a broad sense of where the country is. Donald Trump currently stands with a forty six and a half percent favorable rating as of today, with forty eight point three percent of the responsive public against him. Responsive meaning

responded to these polls that have been combined. And yes, that has dropped. That has dropped in recent days. So he is trending in the wrong direction. Maybe after yesterday. I don't know how quickly they've got some polls in after what happened in the Oval office. I know that was a polarizing display. Depending on which side of the aisle you are on, you probably saw something you liked

or something you didn't like. It looks like Californians in general don't like that and don't like President Trump in general. There is a new statewide poll that has come out from the Public Policy Institute of Californians, their pPIC Statewide Survey, and they've got a lot of information that really shows California is still not in lockstep with much of the country as it relates to what led to President Trump

being elected in the first place. So we just said that President Trump himself nationally has a favorable rating and approval rating, if you will, of about forty six and a half percent. That is how many people respond favorably to the question do Americans have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump?

President Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris, the economy seemed to dominate. People concerned about inflation, the cost of groceries, their economic prospects, looking bad jobs, and also immigration.

and fifteen percent say immigration is a top issue. But thirty one percent, which is the top in this poll, say political extremism threats to democracy the top problem facing this country right now, although half of California's do say the cost of living and inflation, housing costs, the availability of housing, and also the environment are important issues for the governor and the legislature to be working on this year.

And we should also note that a majority of the respondents to the Public Policy Institute of California's statewide survey do say the state is moving in the right excuse me, in the wrong direction. Seven in ten expect that California will be facing some financial problems over the next twelve months. When we think about the state budget in California, lots of conversations about that.

public education as their priorities for state spending. Fifty one percent of adults and fifty percent of likely voters prefer to pay lower state taxes and have fewer state services, and the pPIC reports after reading a brief descript of the budget, fifty eight percent of adults and fifty seven

percent of likely voters favor the budget plan. Seven to ten favor spending two point seven billion dollars of the ten billion dollars in proposition four state bond funds for water and wildfire projects and fifty two percent of adults and likely voters think that it is a bad idea to use state reserve funds to balance the budget. When we look at how Californians respond to this poll and respond to the jaw performance of presidents, it's really not surprising.

This is obviously a Democratic stronghold as a state, but Trump is particularly unpopular. I noted moments ago that at both in twenty seventeen and here in twenty twenty five, is approval rating in California is at thirty percent. Both times thirty percent approval at the start of both of his terms in office. When Joe Biden started his term in office at this time in twenty twenty one, he had a seventy percent approval rating in California. So did

Obama when he started in two thousand and nine. It dropped a little bit. In twenty thirteen, for his second term, Barack Obama had a sixty five percent approval rating. But let's go back to George W. Bush. He wasn't very popular among Democrats, especially at the start of his second term. But in two thousand and five, at the start of his second term, George W. Bush had a forty six

percent approval rating among California voters. That should show how unpopular Donald Trump is statewide, that he's even that much farther behind.

in the right direction. And what would be the political makeup of those folks? While President Biden is in office, and now that President Trump is in office, and you asked that question to the same group, what is the reply? Is it the same math but different people? Probably because that's what this survey suggests. Folks who were optimistic about the economy last year are not optimistic about it this year. Folks who were pessimistic last year are optimistic this year.

Has anything changed other than the president? Are eggs cheaper? Is your rent cheaper? Are we all just floating in the political wins waiting for our guy to get back into office? I find that very boring. Just as a journalist, I wish we all paid a little more attention to the issues that impact us directly and how those issues

become the issues that they are. And part of that is on us as journalists to be better at explaining those things without looking like you're running cover for one politician or another.

she was fired last week by Mayor Karen Bass. Up next, you heard me talk last week about the Convention Center in downtown LA and how it's an important part of the twenty twenty eight Olympics and how they thought they were going to spend a lot of money to make it better before the Olympics before saying no, we can't, we can't afford it. Well, some workers say you better find a way to afford it because the jobs that would be a part of it are important to us.

And also La Metro looking to make the subways safer. They're expanding some of their security efforts. We'll talk about that next week.

convention center is just no longer competitive. We're losing out to mid size cities in the middle of the country, and we're Los Angeles and we are not getting the types of conventions that we need to have here. And so the city launched this exploration. Can we spend about a billion dollars get this project going now and have it finished in time for the twenty twenty eight Olympics.

Because if we start this thing and we find that the Convention Center is under construction in twenty twenty eight when the games are supposed to take place, we will have to find different venues it will make us look bad. So they were up against a very tight timeline. This city administrator was very optimistic that this was a project that could be accomplished with some borrowing and they would make the money back in a variety of ways over

the next thirty years. Basically, but then the fires happened and the city has already spent fifty four million dollars as part of this analysis and basically the recommendation now from the city administrator's offices, let's pause this. We don't think that we can do this in time without disrupting

the Olympics. Well, some folks are upset about it, not just the downtown boosters who pushed for it and hope that it was going to come to attract more conventions, maybe create some more jobs, have some significant economic impact on downtown in the Greater Metro area. The union workers, they are not happy about the pause in this project LAOC Building Trades. They say they represent forty eight local unions with one hundred and sixty thousand members. They want

this back on. This was a one point four billion dollar proposed project, and the union say this would have created more than seven thousand union jobs that would have been created under a labor agreement, and without the project moving forward, those jobs are not coming downtown, so they want to see this go back on. They say that they would be able not only to help build the convention center, the renovation, but also fire recovery that was one of the main issues here. The city said, look,

we don't think we can meet the timeline. It's not just the staggering costs and the risk. It's the fact that so many city workers, like engineers, their focus has been shifted. We have a significant part of the city to rebuild, and that's not really negotiable.

that this project move forward. There have been some estimates, and these are always a little Murky right. These are numbers that come out and they're hard to quantify, but they say the project would add one hundred and sixty five million dollars in visitors spending every year and would create more than two thousand jobs on an ongoing basis of not just the seven thousand jobs that would work in the con instruction area around it, but two thousand jobs on an ongoing basis. We heard from all the

chamber types. We heard from hotel owners and small business owners that this was something that was needed, would increase foot traffic in downtown LA in area that needs it. But now that project is on palls, the workers are unhappy. It is not a final decision yet and this is an issue that we will continue to monitor and update as news on the progress or lack thereof of the Downtown Los Angeles Convention Center moves forward or does not move forward.

But city leaders, county leaders, they want the visitors coming in for the Olympics to take the trains, to take the buses, and they know that's going to take a lot of infrastructure to make that happen, because you can't even get Angelino's on those things right now, right because it doesn't always feel safe, even if it is, even if the stats say now there weren't there weren't any crimes, this month still feels a little weird, right Well, they're expanding

this weapons detection. Metro began the pilot program last August at Union Station and at the APU Citrus College station to test the effectiveness of this screening system. One of them had passengers walk through a set of sensors and another used closed circuit video feeds to detect people carrying weapons.

And Janis Hahn, who is a county supervisor and the current chair of the Metro board, she said neither system detected any passengers carrying weapons during five months of testing, but that both systems detected police officers and security officers service weapons with one accuracy. And the guy who runs Metro's security and law enforcement side, Robert Gummer, he's told the board security officers witnessed some people leaving the Metro stations when they saw or were told that the weapons

screening systems were in use. So he is saying that that suggests that basically putting up a sign that we're looking for your weapons is enough to deter people from getting on. So now this pilot program is going to expand to other high traffic transit stations for one year, so they're going to test this for one year more. And Han issued a statement after the board voted. She says, you can't bring a weapon to a concert or a Dodger game, and you shouldn't be able to bring a

weapon on Metro. The weapons detection technology we are already testing at some Metro stations works and is showing promise and deterring people from even attempting to bring guns and knives onto Metro. Writer's safety needs to be our priority, and it is time to put this technology in more stations.

be a big night for Hollywood, the biggest night. In fact, every year, Hollywood's not doing well here, fewer jobs, fewer productions, and now local officials and state officials want to do something about it, and that thing is to throw money at Hollywood.