WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.919 I've been yapping on the radio for years about the 2 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:09.599 influence in Fresno City government that is wielded by various 3 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:16.879 kinds of left wing nonprofit groups, nonprofit advocacy groups. A 4 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:20.519 lot of times it's in the form of bringing their 5 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:23.760 beggar's bowl and trying to say, oh, you know, advocating 6 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:28.839 for some altruistic liberal problem that they perceive. Oh, it's 7 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:32.240 so terrible that we need to defund the police and 8 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:36.840 all the historic oppression of police on communities of color, 9 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:40.479 and all we need to get police out of the 10 00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:42.920 president Unified school district, get them out of their contract. 11 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:46.880 But but instead, you know what we could do, And 12 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:50.240 then the solution is always something that involves the city 13 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:54.640 giving a contract to that nonprofit organization. It's not some 14 00:00:54.960 --> 00:01:00.520 disinterested entity. They are trying to get a big fact contract. 15 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:05.519 They're trying to get money. And this happens a lot 16 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:07.680 that there are a lot of different initiatives where it's 17 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:11.719 under the guise of, oh, some altruistic thing, and then 18 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:13.920 all of a sudden, some group gets some big contract, 19 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:23.519 another sort of way in which these outside nonprofit groups 20 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:28.400 and and it's often they're these nonprofit groups that sort 21 00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:35.359 of self anoint They anoint themselves as like the representatives 22 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:37.719 of the poor and downtrodden of Presdent, even though no 23 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:45.319 one's ever elected them. And one of the big things 24 00:01:45.319 --> 00:01:50.840 they've been doing are filing different kinds of lawsuits against 25 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:56.120 different kinds of entities and against the city. They've filed 26 00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:00.879 lawsuits against community hospitals for what they alleged to be 27 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:07.239 the illegal shifting of dollars from you know, medical dollars 28 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:15.199 from their downtown Fresno location to their Clovis location, which 29 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:20.319 I think is kind of a silly lawsuit. Downtown, you know, 30 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:23.919 community is able to move dollars as they wish, and 31 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:28.199 the medical funding that community receives is barely covering the 32 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:32.240 cost of services. When a hospital gets money from medical, 33 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:36.000 what that means is they provide a healthcare service to 34 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:40.919 a person that person has medical Medical reimburses them for 35 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:44.039 that service. And your medical reimbursement as opposed to a 36 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:47.159 private insurance reimbursement, you don't really make much of any 37 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:52.960 money at all off of medical. Medical is you know, 38 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:58.879 medical may not even be covering the cost. So the idea, oh, 39 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.680 they got a ton million dollars. If you hear some 40 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:04.919 of the whole community hospital gets. I'm just going to 41 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:07.159 use some big round number. I'm not sure what the 42 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:10.919 actual scale is. Community gets fifty million dollars in medical funding, Well, 43 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:15.000 it probably costs community about forty nine million dollars to 44 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:17.719 provide that care, right, And it's not like they're making 45 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:19.719 out like a bandit or something. Heck, it might even 46 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:22.319 cost fifty one million dollars for community to provide that care. 47 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:26.400 So it's not like communities making a ton of money 48 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:34.199 off medical. But all these lawsuits that are allegedly in 49 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:39.719 the service of the poor and downtrodden of Fresno, I 50 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:43.639 think several of them wind up directly harming the people 51 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:47.360 they purport to help. And this is the case with 52 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:51.120 Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability, which has filed this 53 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:57.639 massive lawsuit against the City of Fresno for its kind 54 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:03.639 of environmental development plan. They use this California law called SEQUA, 55 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:07.759 the California Environmental Quality Act. So what was going on 56 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:12.560 with SEQUA. One of the things you have to do 57 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:16.040 is have some kind When you are a builder and 58 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:19.360 you are building a new project, you have to provide 59 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:23.480 some kind of environmental impact report. This is a requirement 60 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:25.959 of sequa what is going to be the environmental impact 61 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:31.120 of you building something, whether it's a housing development, a 62 00:04:31.160 --> 00:04:38.439 new shopping center, an industrial thing, whatever it is. To 63 00:04:38.600 --> 00:04:45.480 do your own environmental impact study is often extremely onerous 64 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:49.160 and expensive, and it's yet another way that California makes 65 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:53.199 it more expensive, more difficult to build and invest and 66 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:55.680 develop businesses. The kind of report you have to put 67 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:59.560 together is often quite elaborate. So what the City of 68 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:03.879 Fresno did to try to help businesses is they put 69 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:09.480 together their own kind of city wide environmental impact study 70 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:19.160 and plan for Fresno's development. With that, new businesses that 71 00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:23.160 want to invest and develop and build were to they're 72 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:25.600 able to use the city's plan and then kind of 73 00:05:26.279 --> 00:05:30.839 use that as a springboard for their own particular aspects 74 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:32.680 of what they need to provide as far as the 75 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:36.319 environmental impact of this project. So the city is trying 76 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:41.199 to do what it can to help businesses invest in 77 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:43.800 the city. It's a smart move, it's a good thing 78 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:56.519 to do. Lots of development projects are in progress based 79 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:06.720 on the city's environmental place. However, the Leadership Council for 80 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:11.079 Justice and Accountability, this activist nonprofit organization, sued the city 81 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:16.439 under sequel for its environmental development plan and got a 82 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:20.079 judge to rule that their environmental development plan is inadequate. 83 00:06:21.720 --> 00:06:26.319 This is bringing tons of development projects all over the 84 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:41.399 city to a grinding halt. Housing industry jobs Now. There's 85 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:45.360 a story in GV wire about this organization and what 86 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:48.600 it does and how it's funded. Leadership Council for Justice 87 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:54.199 and Accountability. In a twenty twenty three video celebrating its 88 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:57.480 tenth anniversary, the Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability spoke 89 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:00.879 about the need to protect neglected communities. This is a 90 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:04.720 by Edward Smith and GV Wire. There's a really deeply 91 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:07.839 entrenched culture of decision making that absolutely does not believe 92 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.839 that advocates that residents, that communities of color deserve a 93 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.240 seat at the table, get to be at the table. 94 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:15.560 So we had to start to enter those spaces and 95 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:17.920 say no, we're going to be at the table. We 96 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:19.759 deserve to be at the table. We're not taking no 97 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:23.160 for an answer, said Ashley Werner, the former directing attorney 98 00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:26.600 for the group. A year later, Fresno City Hall encountered 99 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:28.959 a problem and hadn't recently faced a forty seven million 100 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:33.120 dollar budget deficit. Some so forty seven million dollar budget 101 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:38.199 deficit this year. Some Fresno leaders blamed environmental policies more 102 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:41.240 restrictive than those in other communities. Simply put, they said 103 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:45.480 Fresno's hands are tied when it comes to growing jobs 104 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:49.639 and developing new projects. City council member Mike Carbasi described 105 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:52.800 Fresno as a city sinking in the muck and mire 106 00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:59.480 of a philosophical crossroads. Carbasi says, the problem is, for years, 107 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:02.639 while I'll be frank, the private sector has been very quiet. 108 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:06.120 Carbasi said at a September twenty nine City council meeting. 109 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:10.759 We've allowed outside dollars and outside interests to try to 110 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:14.519 turn us into an economy where it's expected all these 111 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:17.959 services and all these public benefits to people, like clean 112 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:20.279 parks and roads that are in perfect condition as they 113 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:23.720 should be, without having the ability to invest dollars to 114 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:30.920 have jobs created here. Now, for the contrary view comes 115 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:33.320 from Miguel Arias, a much more liberal member of the 116 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:38.039 city council, who says we got here because they were 117 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:41.559 shoving one million square foot warehouse distribution centers down the 118 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:44.879 throat of South Fresno residents who didn't have legal representation 119 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:48.360 at that time, and now they do. Arius said they. 120 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:52.120 I guess Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability. They took 121 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:53.840 the city to court as they have a right to do, 122 00:08:53.879 --> 00:09:03.480 and they won. I in case you were in case 123 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:05.919 you were wondering, I am leaning more towards CARBASI here 124 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:14.360 the I think that the alleged I deeply, deeply suspect 125 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:20.320 that the alleged environmental adverse environmental impacts of having a 126 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:24.919 one million dollar warehouse one million square foot warehouse distribution 127 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:30.720 center in South Presno does not offset the number of 128 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:35.000 jobs it would have created, the amount of economic activity 129 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:38.679 it would have generated for Fresno, the beneficial impact that 130 00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:43.639 would have had on the city on for example, the 131 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:50.120 city budget, development moratorium, or long needed fix. Leadership Council 132 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:52.399 in the South Presno Community Alliance sued the city in 133 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:56.559 twenty twenty one for its program Environmental Impact Report, saying 134 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.480 it did not properly address air quality, water availability, and 135 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:02.360 traffic management. Builders rely on these documents to build in 136 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:06.639 compliance with SIKUA, the state's landmark environmental law. As I 137 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:10.000 was explaining California's fifth the Pellate Court sided with the 138 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:13.639 groups on August sixth, dozens of prospective business owners were 139 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:17.399 told to halt their projects, including hundreds of new homes. 140 00:10:18.039 --> 00:10:20.120 The judge gave the city six points to fix before 141 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:23.240 any projects can cite the document and move forward. It's 142 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:28.279 essentially a moratorium, said Dirk Pochal, the principle at Land 143 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:32.559 Development Services, a consulting company for business owners. But Fresno's 144 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.559 employers face more than just that decision. Also in dispute 145 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:39.200 an ongoing truck route study, decisions about land use in Fresno, 146 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:42.759 and a lawsuit against a proposed Highway ninety nine interchange improvement. 147 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:46.799 Behind those lawsuits and environmental policies are community groups with 148 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:51.679 substantial outside funding. It then goes on to talk about 149 00:10:52.159 --> 00:11:00.399 Leadership Council for Leadership, Council for Justice and Accountability, how 150 00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:06.679 they are funded. So it's getting funded in part by 151 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:11.000 the Central Valley Community Foundation, who gave them a grant, 152 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:15.480 which is led by none other than former Mayor Ashley Sweeringen, 153 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:20.399 the great crusader for the high speed rail, flip flopper 154 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:27.360 on Conservatives' conservative issues like gay marriage. Extraordinaire unsuccessful candidate 155 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:29.480 for what did she run for? She ran for some 156 00:11:29.559 --> 00:11:36.639 state office and lost. So here we have a local 157 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:40.519 San Joaquin Valley entity led by a former allegedly Republican 158 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:45.320 mayor giving them money. And then on top of that, though, 159 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:48.600 they're getting lots of money from outside groups. The San 160 00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:56.320 Francisco based Tides Center, for example. The Tides Center has 161 00:11:56.440 --> 00:11:59.200 over one point one billion dollars in assets and they've 162 00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:02.799 given quite a bit to all kinds of crazy left 163 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:10.399 wing nonprofits, including Leadership Council, Leadership Council for Justice and 164 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:17.279 Accountability here in Fresno. And basically the Tide Center is it. 165 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:21.080 It's called a dark money entity. I sort of hate 166 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:22.960 that term. I think it's kind of silly. But basically 167 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:29.759 the idea is donors give to them, and then they 168 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:34.879 give to other nonprofits to support other things, So then 169 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:39.600 the money becomes sort of anonymized. When donors give to 170 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:44.879 nonprofit entities, their donations are not publicly reported. The IRS 171 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:48.799 keeps track of top donors, but it's not publicly reported. 172 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:52.240 Could get leaked. But then if you give to one 173 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:56.279 entity and then that other entity gives again, well you 174 00:12:56.360 --> 00:12:59.039 can anonymize things. Then all you know is that the 175 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.399 Tides Foundation gave to you, but you don't know that 176 00:13:01.639 --> 00:13:05.679 you know, Bob, you know, Nelson Rockefeller or Bob Q. 177 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:11.480 Smith gave to you so in addition to some local funding, 178 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:14.200 but a lot of their funding is coming from outside. 179 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:21.399 This is outside liberals wanting to impose their environmental priorities 180 00:13:21.960 --> 00:13:26.360 on the city of Fresno in ways that obviously damage 181 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:31.200 us economically and have completely hindered us in all kinds 182 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:37.159 of ways. We've also got this lawsuit going on about 183 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:41.320 truck routes in the city of Fresno, all these different 184 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:49.080 ways that we are being hindered from economic development because 185 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:52.720 of these various kinds of environmental lawsuits and these environmentalist 186 00:13:52.840 --> 00:13:56.039 activist groups that are able to sue the city and 187 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:59.840 stop all this stuff, just stop it cold in its tracks, Okay, 188 00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:07.039 And it's this. This is the kind of stuff that 189 00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:09.159 we're talking about. This is the kind of stuff we 190 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:12.799 mean when we say that businesses don't want to invest 191 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:17.240 in California. All Right, Fresno, relatively speaking, this isn't the 192 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:19.879 Bay Area. This isn't It's not as liberal as the 193 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:21.759 Bay Area. It's not as liberal as Sacramento, it's not 194 00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:24.519 as liberal as Los Angeles. Fresno is still a pretty 195 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:29.360 conservative place. Our city council is hardly filled with right 196 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:32.039 wingers or anything, but it's a much more moderate city 197 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:34.159 government than you're going to find anywhere in the Bay Area. 198 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:43.879 And the idea that even here we can't create a 199 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:49.080 business environment that is friendly for investment, to help promote 200 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:54.080 job creation for poor people, for lower income people in 201 00:14:54.120 --> 00:15:00.399 South Fresno, that we can't do those things be cause 202 00:15:00.759 --> 00:15:06.759 a nonprofit organization thinks that the environmental impact is to adverse. 203 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:10.200 And I'm willing to look at what the environmental impact is, 204 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:14.320 but I feel like it's always on a certain side. 205 00:15:14.919 --> 00:15:17.720 There's so much concern about environmental impact and no concern 206 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:21.480 about like, hey, do you see that this community has 207 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:24.679 like twenty five percent of its residents living under the 208 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:28.039 federal poverty line. You see how much unemployment there is. 209 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:36.440 These people need job. We need to create jobs, stable 210 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:39.200 jobs that maybe more jobs that aren't necessarily tied to 211 00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:43.759 the agriculture, you know, the fluctuations of the agriculture industry. 212 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:50.279 Like this is all this. This is a very poor 213 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:54.399 region of the country, and we have these people so 214 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:58.720 concerned about air quality, which everyone suffers from bad air quality. 215 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:02.240 People who live in nice neighborhoods of Clovis and South Presno. 216 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:08.000 All everyone suffers from bad air quality, and it has 217 00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:09.840 to do with living in a bowl. It has to 218 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:12.360 do with the fact that it's an egg based economy. 219 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:18.000 But the idea that we're going to completely shut down 220 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:26.159 the ability of the city to develop jobs and industry, like, 221 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:28.879 I don't see how businesses are going to stay here. 222 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:31.919 I don't see how the community's going to grow. You 223 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.759 want city services to be really nice. You're mad about 224 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:38.399 the budget deficit, Okay, we got to invest more. We 225 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:43.519 have to create jobs when we return. I want to 226 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:48.600 talk about the sort of the understated, underappreciated problem, which 227 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:52.159 is California's bizarre rules about who is allowed to sue. 228 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:56.519 Next on the John Girardi Show, a great piece in 229 00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:59.440 GV Wire written by Edward Smith, one of their writers, 230 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:05.319 there about how Leadership Council for Leadership, Council for Justice 231 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:09.160 and Accountability, this left wing nonprofit in Fresno has basically 232 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:14.160 shut down almost all housing development, industrial development within the 233 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:17.680 city of Fresno through its lawsuits. It's hindering development of 234 00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:21.960 truck routes, it's hindering construction of homes, hindering construction of 235 00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:28.839 industrial sites and business development. The one thing though, I 236 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:34.519 just want to add, I just want to add to 237 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:41.839 his assessment, which I think is really good, is how 238 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:48.160 California's law is regarding standing. Get us into this mess? 239 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:51.200 So what do I mean by standing? Standing? In the 240 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:56.440 context of law, standing is all right, why are you 241 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:00.400 here in this courtroom? Do you have the right to 242 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:06.039 bring a lawsuit for the claim in what you're bringing it? 243 00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:11.119 Do you you yourself? Are you implicated in this? The 244 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:16.200 example I always give is, you know my buddy Jonathan Keller. Okay, 245 00:18:16.359 --> 00:18:21.440 if someone crashes a car into Jonathan Keller's house, I 246 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:24.039 don't have the right to sue the guy who crashed 247 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.599 into Jonathan's house. I'll be very upset for my friend. 248 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:31.240 I'll feel really bad for him. But if I sue 249 00:18:31.240 --> 00:18:34.440 the guy and I say, hey, I'm assuing that you 250 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:40.160 for negligence, claim negligence for crashing into my friend Jonathan 251 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:43.400 Keller's house, the judge would look at me and say, 252 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:47.359 why are you here? Why are you suing? I said, well, Judge, 253 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:49.599 I'm really upset for my friend. And he's said, well, no, 254 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:53.480 you don't have a standing. So standing is basically the 255 00:18:53.559 --> 00:18:56.079 doctrine that shows you have some kind of nexus, some 256 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:00.519 kind of connection to the claim that you're making. Usually 257 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:02.759 to have standing, you need to show that you've suffered 258 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:08.680 some kind of cognizable harm, economic harm, physical harm, et cetera. 259 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:14.720 You've lost money, you've you've had your rights curtailed in 260 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:21.920 some way, et cetera. With environmental claims that all you know, 261 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:25.000 so and so is doing something that's harming the environment, 262 00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:29.960 that was always a little more dicey. Who exactly is 263 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:32.200 allowed to sue on behalf of the birds in the 264 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:36.759 trees and the fishies and so. California decided for that 265 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:45.039 thorny problem to say anyone, basically anyone when California wrote SIQUEA, 266 00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:49.079 the California Environmental Quality Act, which is the basis for 267 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:52.880 all these lawsuits that Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability 268 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:54.880 has used to kind of more or less put a 269 00:19:54.920 --> 00:20:01.480 total moratorium on development in the city of Fresno. Basically 270 00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:05.519 with SEQUA, they said, anybody can sue under SEQUA to 271 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:08.960 stop a construction project they don't like, anyone can sue 272 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:13.359 under SEQUA to say that such and such as not 273 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:18.880 living up to its environmental requirements. And SEQUA has been 274 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:25.079 used to stop construction projects, development projects by all kinds 275 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:27.599 of people who don't actually really give a damn about 276 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:33.880 the environment. Competing real estate developers have stopped their competitors 277 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:36.759 on the ground's law or you're not following environmental law. 278 00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:42.240 People who don't want multi unit housing near them because 279 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:44.079 they think it's going to lower the value of their 280 00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:47.279 own homes than not in my backyard crowd have used 281 00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:49.880 it to stop the development of more housing, which we 282 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:56.240 desperately need in California. Lots of different people have used 283 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:59.119 SEQUA for reasons that it don't have anything to do 284 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:03.319 with the environment. Why, because everyone has standing. The sequel 285 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:05.319 was written to say pretty much anyone can bring a 286 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:09.640 claim under sequel without having to show that you have 287 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:13.039 suffered some you have or will suffer some kind of 288 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:19.200 tangible direct harm, an economic harm, a personal harm, whatever. 289 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:26.640 So that's a huge problem with all of this. You 290 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:31.319 have these nonprofit groups that are able to pool enough 291 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:38.599 money from donors, donors giving tax deductible money for a 292 00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:41.079 lawsuit that you know, lawsuits cost a lot of money, 293 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:43.759 but they cost less if they're funded with a tax 294 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:51.119 deductible donation. So they file this tax deductible lawsuit basically 295 00:21:54.440 --> 00:21:57.920 to accomplish the kind of public policy goals that these 296 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:02.599 liberals like, that, these ultra rich liberals who at their 297 00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:04.960 cocktail parties want to talk about how wonderful they are 298 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:11.799 for saving the environment. So that is a major problem 299 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:13.839 in all of this, the ways in which California has 300 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:17.279 so massively expanded standing. And it leads me to this. 301 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:22.720 For all the talk, there's tons of talking California about nimbism, 302 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:25.960 Nimbism is a problem. Local government's doing too much to 303 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:29.480 stop multi unit dwelling housing from being built. Oh, that's 304 00:22:29.559 --> 00:22:34.599 so bad. The problem in California is not nimbiism. Is 305 00:22:34.599 --> 00:22:38.920 that a contributing factor maybe, But you know what happens 306 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:41.839 in red states. Red states just don't have this kind 307 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:45.920 of environmental red tape. They just let you build. They 308 00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:48.960 let you build, and builders want to build. And builders 309 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.160 can build lower income housing and middle class housing and 310 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:54.640 housing for rich people, and they can make money off 311 00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:57.799 all of it because it's not so crazy expensive to 312 00:22:57.799 --> 00:22:59.720 build because you don't have the layers and layers and 313 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:04.200 layers of environmental regulation. They are just allowed to build. 314 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:06.440 And so they build and they build, and they build 315 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:08.559 and they build and they don't have a housing shortage. 316 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:12.480 Why because they're just allowed to build and you don't 317 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:15.359 have to worry about nimbiism or whatever because builders can build. 318 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:19.519 So you have all these red states that just don't 319 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:22.400 have the homeless problems that we have in California. They 320 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:25.319 don't have the housing shortage problems that we have in California. 321 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:28.880 Here we are in California's just scratching. Why why, Oh 322 00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:33.160 it's rich nimbi's who live in fancy communities in Beverly 323 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:36.000 Hills not wanting lower income housing. That's not the reason why. 324 00:23:36.039 --> 00:23:38.640 The reason why is because builders don't want to build here. 325 00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:44.400 And it's completely understandable when some nonprofit jerks with blue 326 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:47.519 hair can fly in from the outside and say, well, 327 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:51.799 act selling your environmental impact study is not compliance. We 328 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:55.759 have California at laws, and some stupid judge appointed by 329 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:59.119 Jerry Brown will be like, oh, yes, thank God's true. 330 00:23:59.400 --> 00:24:04.920 That's why we don't have enough housing. It's not rocket science. 331 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:09.000 Democrats all know it, and they refuse to reform SEQUA 332 00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:12.960 because their donors like it. When we return more problems 333 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:15.720 that everyone understands and no one wants to fix. Next 334 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:19.640 on the John Girardi Show. I get more and more 335 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:22.599 depressed about California politics the more I think about it. 336 00:24:22.920 --> 00:24:24.880 And one of the various ways in which I get 337 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:28.880 depressed about California politics is something I touched on at 338 00:24:28.920 --> 00:24:30.839 the very end of the last segment. You know, I'm 339 00:24:30.839 --> 00:24:36.519 talking about SEQUA, and I'm talking about how it is 340 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:46.960 obviously the thing that makes building, especially building housing difficult, 341 00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:53.400 damn near impossible in California. There are layers and layers 342 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:56.000 and layers and layers of environmental regulation that just make 343 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:58.119 it more and more and more difficult, more and more 344 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:04.359 and more expensive to build. It's not rocket science. If 345 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:07.680 a real estate developer has a requirement every house has 346 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:10.359 to start out with its own solar panel on the top, 347 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:14.160 that was a requirement that we have. If every house 348 00:25:14.200 --> 00:25:15.680 has to be built with a solar panel on the 349 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:18.599 top of it, well, that's an extra I don't know 350 00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:20.839 what it is. Let's say an extra fifteen thousand dollars costs. 351 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:22.880 That's going to add fifteen thousand dollars to the cost 352 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:30.200 of every new home. If every real estate developer has 353 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:35.920 to factor in the possibility that their whole project could 354 00:25:36.039 --> 00:25:40.640 grind to a halt with one lawsuit from one green 355 00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:48.240 haired environmental millennial environmental lawyer from a nonprofit organization saying 356 00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:53.759 that you know your environmental impact report under SEQUA isn't sufficient. 357 00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:59.799 One lawsuit like that can grind your entire you know, 358 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:04.799 forty million dollar housing project to a halt. Well, you 359 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:07.400 factor that into the cost. You have to factor that in. 360 00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:09.720 That's a risk. It's either a risk you have to 361 00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:12.440 be willing to run, or you have to plan on 362 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:14.759 the idea of it being held up for litigation. If 363 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:17.119 a construction project like that is held up, that costs 364 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:27.920 you money. We all know why it's hard to build 365 00:26:27.960 --> 00:26:37.079 in California. Everyone understands why. Everyone understands the problem. Democrats 366 00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:40.319 understand the problem. Republicans understand the problem. We can look 367 00:26:40.359 --> 00:26:43.119 at a red state and we can see they don't 368 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:47.599 have SEQUA. Their builders can just build. And then their 369 00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:51.039 builders do build, and their housing prices are a lot lower, 370 00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:56.200 and they don't have as many homeless people. They just 371 00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:06.720 don't have the problems that we have. And yet the 372 00:27:06.920 --> 00:27:14.880 obvious solutions to this overturning SEQUA, you know, outlaw SEQUA, 373 00:27:16.519 --> 00:27:18.400 passing a law to say we're not gonna abide by 374 00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:21.839 sequa's requirements anymore. We're going to massively restrict who has 375 00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:24.720 standing to sue. We're gonna get rid of all these 376 00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:28.039 different onerous requirements for all the different kinds of environmental 377 00:27:28.039 --> 00:27:30.519 impacts soy or massively restrict the kinds of projects that 378 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:32.279 are subject to it, or blah blah blah blahlah blah 379 00:27:32.279 --> 00:27:36.000 blah blah blah. If we just got rid of these things, 380 00:27:36.119 --> 00:27:41.640 these things that Red States don't have, then it would 381 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:47.000 be massively more realistic for builders to build. But we 382 00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:50.400 don't do it. We don't do it because why well, 383 00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:57.960 big time liberal Democrat donors back these crazy environmental groups. 384 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:04.119 They like them, and Democrats are just never going to 385 00:28:04.200 --> 00:28:09.880 cross those super wealthy donors. That's the thing. Environmental advocacy 386 00:28:09.880 --> 00:28:13.920 groups like the Sierra Clubs, et cetera. It's not that 387 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:18.160 they are so powerful in and of themselves. Okay, they 388 00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:20.480 give money to politicians here and there. It's but you know, 389 00:28:20.519 --> 00:28:23.240 it's not like that much money. It's not that they 390 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:27.640 are powerful in themselves. They are powerful because of the 391 00:28:28.119 --> 00:28:32.359 massive donors who are behind them. Democrats don't want to 392 00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:40.920 tick those people off. That's why they are powerful. It's 393 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:46.559 the same thing with gas and energy energy prices. Everyone 394 00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:50.960 from Gavin Newsome on down, everyone understands why gas is 395 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:55.319 expensive in California. No one is ignorant of why. We 396 00:28:55.480 --> 00:29:00.519 all understand why is gas more expensive in Califorifornia then 397 00:29:00.519 --> 00:29:07.359 in Hawaii, which which makes no sense whatsoever. Everyone understands why. 398 00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:13.720 It's because California insists upon its own unique blend of 399 00:29:13.799 --> 00:29:20.480 gas to meet its own unique emission standards. This creates 400 00:29:20.920 --> 00:29:26.319 basically a gas island for California. We are in isolated 401 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:35.279