San Francisco's Turnaround (09/03)

0:00This is an I Heart podcast guaranteed human. Can't find am 640 you're listening to the John Cobalt podcast on the I Heart radio. Can't find am 640 more stimulating talk radio. John Cobalt show run from a three until six and the podcast will be released in an hour. John Cobalt show on demand. There's stuff you may have missed. You're just joining us. You weren't around early. We did an interview Susan Shelley, the newspaper columnist about how Gavin News them is stealing $20 million of your vehicle registration money. So she so he can have a private security force for he and Jennifer and his kids and his in laws after he's no longer governor. He's got exactly $20 million to spend on his own private security. So you want to hear that? That was in the four o'clock hour. Let's talk now with Richie Greenberg.

1:00Richie is writes. He commentates. He is on our show frequently. It's kind of our San Francisco eyes and ears to what's going on up there. San Francisco is way ahead of Los Angeles in destroying itself. And now seems to be way ahead of Los Angeles in rebuilding itself now into the new mayor, Daniel Lury, who as of this week has a plan. And this is pretty shocking requiring all the homeless service providers to actually show that what they're doing is working or they don't get a new contract. Richie Greenberg, welcome. How are you? I'm doing great. I hope that you're doing well. And can you believe it that Mayor Lury is actually looking for merit and accountability? That's, you know, it's like a no brainer to most of us. There are people who always argue about putting a business guy in charge of a government.

2:05But this is what they do. They, they're trained since birth that if I'm going to spend money, what's the return on investment? Is this working? Is this policy correct? This department necessary? This is just simple business ethics here. Yeah, correct. But there's a little bit more than that. And I want to say when I wrote this article, I wrote it for the California Post. And it comes with a few caveats and a big asker. And it has to do with how this is all being presented in the media, how Lury's been doing outreach on social media and elsewhere to really turn things around at least from the perception of both outside San Francisco, such as what you may see in the news down in LA and elsewhere around the country that, you know, the city seems to be on its way up that we're coming back

3:08from the doom loop. The thing is though that we still have crime. That is not down to zero, right? We have a big reduction in car break ins, but I'm just throwing a number out there. If we had 35,000 break ins per year and now it's 15,000, 50% down more or less, there's still a lot of car break ins and and vandalization of mom and pop shops. You've got drug dealers out there slinging fentanyl and meth and meth on the street 24 hours a day. That is still happening. Is it is widespread? Can I ask you about one statistic that I read and we didn't believe it here that 80 encampments are down 85%? Yes, that is true. Wow. When you drive around and yeah, you will see hardly any 10th, any more encampments. Wow. A collection of 10th. Yes, that is, that is true.

4:09But this is also part of that whole effort to get these drug users and holists off the street and into something, into housing, into somewhere out of the eyes of the media and out of the eyes of tourists and businesses. So yes, that is true. But we still do see the drug dealing, the open markets. Once night falls, you see it in certain parts of the city and it is horrendous. You see the the the users, the they're bent over in the fentanyl fold that is still here. It has not gone away. But it overall though, is it not as widespread then? That's not the thing is it was never widespread. It wasn't in every single square foot of San Francisco. It was in concentrated in certain areas and it still is in those certain areas. So part of that also has to do with what I was saying with what Laurie is doing.

5:13Don't forget, we're still a sanctuary city in a sanctuary state. So there there's that protection, that wall of accountability and ability to have ice come in and and arrest these foreign dealers, right? We know that they're from Honduras. That is still here. I just got to stop you a second for people familiar. So their sanctuary policies actually protect Honduran drug dealers and their cartels. Really? That is correct. Even those guys get protection. That is correct. Yep. You have this this revolving door. They get arrested and within a few hours, they're out again on the street. So also the judges as well and you have the same issues down in LA and elsewhere. So that has still not been addressed that has still not gone away. Businesses, small businesses are still closing. We still have an insane city budget, $17 billion for a population of 800-something thousand.

6:18So we still have that. But what Laurie is doing is using his own wealth, not city hall funds or taxpayers funds. He's a wealthy guy and he spent the last count $1.2 million of his own money to pay for really good PR and marketing firms to help develop his social media messaging and to ensure that he gets good press and to make sure that Laurie is put on these local and national TV shows to say, yes, let's go San Francisco, the cities on the rise, the doom loop is over. So it's a combination of all of that and that's why we in San Francisco have actually seen a very slight uptake, a pick and uptake in our population. We're actually not losing residents who are very slightly gaining when the rest of the state is losing tens of thousands. Yeah, I mean, I guess that's part of the package when you're a mayor though.

7:20You've got to change the mindset. If everybody thinks we're all swirling down the toilet together, you got to do something to turn that around. But it is being backed up somewhat with real accomplishments. Do you think? Yes, correct. And especially compared to London breed beforehand, who just gave up through her hands up and just said anything just to appease her. But there was no incentive at all. Now, Laurie of course, with his wealth and his family, I cannot believe that he would want to stain his family's reputation by letting things just go all into the into the crapper. So I think he's doing all this sincerely. All right, hang on. Can you stay for a little more? Yeah, I'm going to talk about, I mean, there has been a noticeable political change in San Francisco over the last few years. And I want to talk to you about where this suddenly came from. We've got Richie Greenberg on. Yes, he's got a great story in the California post this week.

8:20Daniel Laurie's homeless reforms. We'll finally deliver accountability. And we'll talk more about that and everything else. You're listening to John Cobalt on demand from KFI AM640. Can't buy AM640 more stimulating talk radio. John Cobalt show, hey, last call for the Moistline for tomorrow, 877, Moist 86, 877, Moist 86, or use the talkback feature on the iHeart radio app. We have vacancies. So we want to hear from you. It's good going. Summer's over. I've got to get back an action here. Live on YouTube, live on X, continuing with Richie Greenberg. From, well, he's written a, he's a writer, commentator. He wrote a piece for California, California post about Daniel Laurie, the mayor of San Francisco. And he now has, he's now got a policy requiring homeless services providers. Before they got a contractor, Nule, they got a show with

9:21what they're doing and how much it's working. Let's get Richie back on here. So Richie, so they have to demonstrate that there's good stuff coming out of all the money they're getting, right? Is that the, yeah, that's right. And it's kind of hard to believe that he didn't have that in, in some sort of, in practice, beforehand. They would just have a renewal. It was pretty much a assumption that as you came up for the rule, renewal, you're going to get it regardless. So, so even if they didn't help a single person, they just all kept the money for salary. Nobody was ever, nobody was ever investigated. They were going to ask to say, hey, show us what you did. Show us what kind of help you gave people. They didn't have to, huh? They just kept the money. Yeah, that's exactly right. And this is why we had, now there were a few, a few of the non-profit organizations that were under investigation, right? And we had the, the city attorney here in City Hall said, you know,

10:24this is very problematic, so we're cutting you off. But there was no, you know, blanket policy to have to do or review, see whether or not you're even effective at all. And so, this is why this is, believe it or not, this, this, this, this new policy under Daniel Lurie is mind boggling because it will change everything. And then just the fact that we didn't have this in the first place. You wrote that organizations contracting with the city were not judged on whether their clients left their facilities alive, let alone found stable housing. That's true. And you know, this is part of what I was saying before about the caveat. Is that in supportive housing, there are between one and three or now one and two deaths, overdosed deaths, daily here in the city. It used to be higher and now it's a good percentage lower, but there are still deaths.

11:27And a lot of us has to do with other issues. And that has to do with the policy that we have here that finally, separate from this plan of accountability. Daniel Lurie says, we don't want this housing first anymore. We need abstinence first. And that is another major thing that he has came up with. So, you know, he's also going for re-election in 2028. And even though it seems like a year is away, he's going to probably start his re-election campaign in the next, what, three, four, five, six months. Yeah. Right? 2027. So, he wants to be looked at as being the city's savior in a sense. And he will get a lot of support based on what he's done already so far. All right. One more question. Yeah. Then we got to do the news again. So, I know we've touched on this at other times, but a few years ago, they recalled the DA, Chesa Bowdeen.

12:28They, I remember a well, that's right. Very well. All right. They replaced the mayor. They replaced some board of education members. They replaced some supervisors. It seems like there's been a revolt going on in San Francisco to some extent. And just electing more and more moderate people who are doing normal things to make the city better, right? It's not some crazy right wing ideology. It's just like, hey, this is basic stuff that we all used to agree on. What changed the attitude of so many of the voters? So, I think it was a combination of the city here, seeing how bad, how detrimental the, DSA aligned candidates and those that were serving in city hall were on our city. Chesa Bowdeen, for sure, was a massive blow to the city's image and accountability as we all know, having him thrown out, having a replacement of his,

13:30actually, to the job, Rook Jenkins actually be a prosecutor, and then she herself was challenged by someone who was even more radical than Chesa Bowdeen. And he lost some of his state. We also had a couple of supervisors who are, who are our city council people. As you said, they were defeated if they were DSA aligned. But we do have still in city hall, we have a couple who are pretty left wing, but they are in the minority. And we're seeing them in a sense getting marginalized and pushed out different for what's happening in LA. In LA with your, with Karen Bass, that's a really, really tough decision for the voters. I know. Excuse me, it's not a decision. I want to start a recall movement 90 days after the election, no matter who wins. Why be happy to help out a few forget about that. All right, Richie. Thanks for coming on.

14:31All right, thanks anytime, John. Richie Greenberg from San Francisco. Yeah, they, I think you mentioned that, that DSA candidates in decline in San Francisco of all places on the ascendancy here in LA. What's, what's going on? When do we make the turn? If they didn't in San Francisco, it can happen anywhere and it happens quickly. 85, hey, confirmed it. 85% reduction in street homelessness, in campments rather, in camps. All right. So it can be done. They're doing it in San Anato, Debra Mark, who's, I've got Scott back in. I suspected to pull hamstring. I know so much pain. John was very sweet. He rolled me in a chair and dropped me off at the restroom that I had to hopl back. I know. We're just practicing for the nursing home. I figured I'd give you a ride. You made it back in time. Wait, with, with, Eric and I were talking about what we're going to do if you don't make it. I figured you, you would just keep going on with your interview.

15:32I figured we might find you in the hallway. It's black. Yeah. You're listening to John Cobalt on demand from KFI AM640. YouTube by going to youtube.com slash at John Cobalt show. And so we got the video running. Got a chat room going. I want to play it something we talked about some early yesterday. And because I think this report will bring it into better focus here. Christopher Rufo is an investigative reporter and cityjournal.org. He's done a number of investigations into all the corruption in Los Angeles and in California.

16:36And of course, Medicare and Medicaid in this state is getting looted by the billions. And Newsom is allowing it. He's not even denying it. It's just take what you can. And all you have to do is fill out fraudulent paperwork. And this is the story I mentioned yesterday about Dr. allegedly a doctor, Curtis Kirkkova, who's living in a $28 million mansion with his husband in hidden hills, you know, a Kardashian neighborhoods. All right. So Curtis Kirkkova has got this scheme going on. Listen to Christopher Rufo's report. You're not going to believe it. This is a brand new $28 million mansion in Hidden Hills, California next to the Kardashian House. But the man who owns this property isn't a pop star or CEO. He's a respiratory therapist named Curtis Kirkkova.

17:36And he got rich by Bill and California's Medicaid system, more than $40 million. And as his business raked in the cash, Curtis and his husband, Christian, flaunted their new wealth online. They bought these houses, flew on these jets, and partied in the most exclusive places in the world. We spent months following the money trail and found something very strange. There's no evidence that their company even exists. So let's start at the beginning. In 2019, Curtis Kirkkova founded a company called HeroCare. He was mostly selling these plastic products, breathing tubes, catheters, which are made in Mexico and cost about $15. In 2020, the company made about $7,000. The next year, about $400,000. In 2022, they build the government $5 million. Then $15 million, then $18.8 million.

18:40But the actual business is something of a ghost. Their website doesn't work. They have empty social media accounts. And when you call the phone number, nobody answers. The mailbox is not currently acting messaging. We wanted to take a look at their physical operation. So we drove to HeroCare's address in Chino, but the business wasn't there. Next, we went to another of the companies listed addresses in Van Nies. And there was no sign of HeroCare at all. Finally, we went to Curtis Kirkkova's mansion, which he shares with his husband and his adopted daughter. But he was nowhere to be found. California has long been a gold mine for Medicaid fraud. According to our reporting, fraudsters are stealing up to $50 billion a year from the state Medicaid program. And fraud experts told us that the numbers for HeroCare are full of red flags.

19:41It's simply not the kind of business that turns people into millionaires overnight. Experts say there's more than enough evidence for the federal government to open an investigation. As the couple wrote in one Instagram post, it's giving Narcos vibes, but the money's clean. We're not so sure. It's time for President Trump to shut this down. And as Christopher Rufo, if you want to read about it, it's in cityjournal.org. But this Dr. Curtis Kirkkova has gotten $40 million of California Medicare money. That's your money, too. It's federal dollars funneled through Newsom's government. Newsom does, does, does, does it. Just doesn't care. And the Sarah's not going to care. This is what Steve Hilton is campaigning on. Every day, there seems to be a new story of massive corruption. This isn't Nickel and Dimes stuff. And when Christopher Rufo was trying to track down people,

20:45connected to hero care, connected to Curtis Kirkkova, instead he got some guy on the phone who screamed at him that he's homophobic because Kirkkova and his husband are living in that $28 million mansion next to the Kardashians. So Christopher Rufo is homophobic for investigating the massive fraud. This is what you get now. This is when they when they when they exposed Dr. Oz exposed all the Medicare fraud and then nice. Then nice again, you notice what a Newsom do accused him of being racist against Armenians. They scream, race him, they scream homophobia, they scream some ism or some phobia to try to freeze everyone's brains, deflect the subject. That's a sign that yes, it's all true.

21:46So why, who cares, lead me alone, your racist, your homophobic. Meantime, Kirkkova and the husband, I guess, have really run off with millions of them. They don't have any employees. They don't have any volunteers. They don't have a product that little pieces of plastic. Kits down $40 million plastic. Now it seems, if you believe this survey, that most of the country is convinced of all the corruption. This is an astonishing number. This is a poll done by Gowum. Gallup says 89% of US adults say government corruption in the United States is widespread. 89% it's all demographic categories.

22:56The Democrats used to think that there was only corruption when Donald Trump was president. But now it turns out everybody thinks there's corruption no matter who's president, no matter who's running any level of government. Everyone has agreed that it's all over the place. The level of perceived corruption among other countries has dropped below 60%. But here in the United States, most people say, yeah, there are a bunch of criminals. They're stealing our money. They're getting paid off. They're getting bribed. Everybody's in, but they don't change their voting habits, especially here at LA, here at California. I assume most to California believes that there's massive corruption. They should. It's being proven almost every day. It's not even being denied anymore, which is what's fascinating. The whole tactic that Newsom and Bass have taken is just don't address it.

24:04Don't give the story any oxygen. Don't give it a denial. Don't respond. And if you do respond, just scream racism, homophobia. Okay, that settles it. So there's massive, and corruption is kind of a vague word. What I've been talking about is theft of your money. Latest example, Susan Shelley on last hour, Newsom is stealing $20 million out of our voter registration funding. Every time you renew your car, right? The registration, I said voter registration, your car registration, your car registration fund, $20 million is being taken, and he's hiring a private security force for he and his family after he's governor when he's a private citizen. They passed the bill in the legislature. He's signing it. You're listening to John Cobalt on demand from KFI AM640.

25:06KFI AM640, more stimulating talk radio. John Cobalt show and in a few minutes, Conway and Crozier's News and the podcast is going to be released a few minutes after six o'clock. That'll be there for you. We have Ray Lopez making a return here about his dog, Rocco, the Pomeranian who, oh yeah, the update, the update. So yeah, so for the audience who didn't hear my tail of whoa the first time, Rocco, my dog, he is a nine pound Pomeranian and he jumped off, he had a really bad fall. And he's tiny, he's a tiny little guy. And Deborah Mark even warned me, be careful with the little dogs. And the first time I took him to the vet, even the vet said, the vet said, look, you're going to have to scale this guy because he lives in a big world.

26:07And sure enough, he jumped last week and he broke his back leg. He jumped off a really high chair and he landed on some travertine. Usually he lands on the carpet at my place, but we were at my mom's place and she has a tile and he just let out a yelp and he couldn't get up. And I didn't know what to do. You know, it was a Sunday. So I took him to the emergency vet. You know, that was a, that was a thousand bucks off the, off the bat. And you know, and you know, me, right? Not only that, but you know, to back up, you know, I'm getting married next week. Yes. You know, we're all American. Yeah. Deborah and I are going. Yeah. And so this is a really bad time for all this to happen. So Michelle Cube, our executive producer here, KFI, she put together this, go fund me thing.

27:08And I was like, I don't know. I don't know that she's like, just do it. This is really going to help you. And it really has the audience is really helped. And, but you know, there's still a lot to do here. Eric's going to put some of the social media stuff right, Eric. You're going to put that stuff up. You know, a closure through down some money. John Alley. Yeah. Okay. Okay. You have Deborah has. And, and, you know, Michael, so cute. We've all met Rocco. Yeah. He's a good guy explaining injury head, right? So he had to earn ligament. Yeah. So, what happens is with a little dog like that, he needed a surgery called the TPL O surgery. And what ad equates to is he blew out his ACL. So, you know, if he were, if he were playing basketball of your, you know, if he were running back for the, you know, the Rams, he took a, he can't put weight on it. Anytime he tries to put weight on his back foot, you know, whether to walk or or pee, you know, he can't do it. And, and so this is a common thing. I didn't know that this,

28:14a type of surgery, this type of injury for small dogs, any dogs, it, it, it happens. And it's amazing that, you know, we, or talk about the dogs and skid row. Can you imagine what those dogs, how they have to live? They don't have people, you know, they take care of them. They're, you know, they're up in the street. I just, it's a, it's a, yeah, I just was enlightened by this whole thing. And, and, and, and Karen Bass hasn't donated any money. Not yet. Not yet. But, but she should, you know, she's gonna be here tomorrow, by the way. Oh, I heard she's gonna be wandering around the building. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, go snag her. Yeah. I'm gonna, you know, I told, yeah, I'm, I always have my way. All right. I always get there. But, you know, if, if people are out there and they can help, you know, we still have some things that we need to do to get Rocco back, back up to, to, to live a normal life. And, and that's what we're trying to do. Well, it, well, it, it, well, it gave back to 100%. I don't know. But, but, but, you know, what, we're doing everything we can to help him. And, and, and you can help me too. Because, yeah, this is a,

29:19a really bad time for us. And we're trying to, you know, try to get married here. For, I don't know. It's very important that Ray gets married. And we're getting, yeah. And raise it risk if he doesn't get married. I got a, I got a paper, a paper wedding, I got a wedding to pay for it. He shouldn't be left alone. All right. Well, thanks. Thanks, KFI audience. You guys, you guys always come through. Yeah. So anyway, we'll have all the stuff on social media. You go to gofundme.com. And you can type in Ray Lopez, Rocco, ROCCO, is how you spend, spell it, and then you'll get to his page. All right. We'll be back tomorrow podcast released in a few minutes. We've got Conway. Next, Michael Kroger has the news now, live in the KFI 24 hour newsroom. You've been listening to the John Cobalt show podcast. You can always hear the show live on KFI AM640 from three to six PM every Monday through Friday. And of course, anytime on demand on the I heart radio. KFI AM640 more stimulating talk.

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