California Insider

Siyamak sits down with Gabriel Petek, California’s legislative analyst. He shares with us why California is facing such a huge budget deficit and how it may last a few more years. He also shares what it will take to solve this budget crisis. “A couple of years ago, we had a $100 billion surplus, and we heard about these big numbers. Now, we’re estimating that we currently face a $68 billion budget...

"As an elected District Attorney, I have people from my county being released from prison early and I don't know why." Siyamak sits down with Morgan Gire, District Attorney of Placer County, who has over 24 years of experience working in the criminal justice system. He'll discuss recent criminal justice reforms in California and share his opinion on how they've contributed to rising crime in Calif...

Siyamak sits down with Bill George, historian and filmmaker, who has been studying and documenting the history and culture of California. He'll discuss the changes he has observed in California’s state capital when it comes to homelessness, crime, and transparency in the legislative body. We'll also take a deep dive into California's history and look at the forces that shape its culture. "I've liv...

Siyamak sits down with LeRonne Armstrong, a former police chief who served for the Oakland Police Department for over 25 years. He explains how it’s difficult for the police to operate because of the rules and regulations they are facing from the city. This situation in Oakland is so dire that the governor is sending 120 California Highway Patrol officers to Oakland to help with safety. Meanwhile,...

Siyamak sits down with Matt Schrap, CEO of Harbor Trucking Association, which represents trucking companies operating at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland. Today, he'll share his insights on what it takes for trucking companies to comply with the zero-emission mandates at the ports and how this might affect Californians. Join us as we delve into the challenges California's trucking...

Siyamak sits down with Chris Cooper, principal and regional managing director at Avison Young. He talks about what challenges downtown Los Angeles is facing today in the aftermath of the pandemic and the impact on the commercial real estate industry. “I’m a third-generation Angeleno. We have a wonderful community.“ Mr. Cooper said. ”There are competing interests, but we can solve those problems by...

Siyamak sits down with Jim Doti, president emeritus at Chapman University. Today he will talk about his latest findings on the California Exodus and provide some insights on the demographics of people who are leaving California, why they are leaving, and the outmigration’s impacts on California's job market and economy. "Over the last five years, we've lost 1.2 million people. We did a survey of C...

Siyamak sits down with John Cruikshank, mayor of Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles County. He will discuss the challenges facing California cities regarding the state housing mandate and the potential problems of government overreach when it comes to improving housing affordability. “Right now the policymakers up in Sacramento don’t trust the cities to do their job. And so now they’re using the s...

In this special episode, we discuss an unlicensed Chinese biolab in California that was illegally researching viral diseases. Siyamak sits down with investigative reporters Steve Ispas and Lear Zhou from The Epoch Times. He also talked to Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), who, along with his colleagues in Congress, has been investigating this case. “There were 1,000 mice in there. These mice are geneti...

Siyamak sits down with Juan Alanis, an assemblymember from Modesto County and former law enforcement officer. He discusses the issue of rising retail theft in California and his insights from serving on the Assembly Committee on retail theft. He also talks about the impacts on businesses, law enforcement, and local communities. “We’re talking about millions of dollars. These chains, these stores,...

Siyamak sits down with Joe Vinatieri, Mayor of Whittier, California and a tax expert. He'll talk about why people are leaving California and the impact of high taxes on the state. “McDonald’s started here, Carl’s Jr. started here, Taco Bell started here, In-N-Out started here. There was just a great entrepreneurial spirit,“ said Mr. Vinatieri. ”When you’re pushing people and they’re leaving Califo...

Siyamak Khorrami sits down with Jim Desmond, San Diego County Supervisor. He'll talk about how the recent surge of migrants in San Diego is causing a big problem for the county and how he's worried that homelessness could get worse as a result. "We're not as bad off as San Francisco or LA but if we keep going down this path, we're going to have the same problems and same consequences," Mr. Desmond...

Siyamak sits down with Alex Villanueva, former sheriff of Los Angeles County. He'll give us a deeper look into how corruption works in Los Angeles, and what should be done to stop it. "It's billions of dollars that get poured into the pockets of the nonprofit world in the state of California. And what is the return on the investment? A bigger homeless problem. We're not fixing anything, what we're...

Siyamak sits down with Michael Bornman, a retired captain from the LA County Sheriff's Department who had served for over 30 years. He shares his perspective on the issues the Department is currently facing. We also talked with Cece Woods, who has been reporting on the LA Sheriff's Department for many years. She provides her insight based on conversations she has had with people in the department....

Siyamak sits down with Christine Epperly, a licensed civil engineer and building designer with over 30 years in business. She discovered a state-run plan called the "15 Minute City" that is changing the landscape of California. "What's happening in California is we're building these high-density communities in the middle of the towns and suburbs. I looked at them and they're basically all the same...

Siyamak sits down with Susan Shelley, columnist with Southern California News Group. She discusses California's renewable energy policies and their impact on the cost of living. "We are in California, bearing this tremendous burden financially to model good climate behavior. And it does not affect the global climate because it's too small. It’s 1 percent of all our global greenhouse gas emissions....

"It's like apocalypse when you're on these wildfires and everything is burning. Homeowners in sandals, shorts, and a T-shirt on their roof, watering the roof down. A lot of people cannot get fire insurance because it's getting so expensive in California." Siyamak sits down with Sam DiGiovanna, fire chief for Verdugo Fire Academy. He discusses his predictions for upcoming wildfires.

Siyamak sits down with Rex Ridgeway, president of the PTA at Lincoln High School in San Francisco. He explains how San Francisco's inclusion policies are actually hurting the overall performance of students and why parents are leaving the public school system. "Kids in San Francisco can't get to calculus. They moved Algebra 1 out from the 8th grade in a city, which Mayor London Breed has recently...

"Carjacking is a serious felony, but selling a child for sex is not. I would ask them as a parent, why would you not support a bill to make human trafficking of minors [a serious felony]? ... This is a place where good public safety bills go to die from both Democrats and Republicans." Siyamak sits down with California state Sen. Shannon Grove, author of the SB14 Child Trafficking bill initia...

"We were called agents of racial genocide. That really hits bad, that is so, so not true. So when you start hearing those types of words that are describing what you do every single day, it doesn't sit well." Siyamak sits down with Marlon Marrache, a retired LAPD officer to discuss the impact that legacy media has on people's perception of policing, and why the LAPD is struggling to find new offic...

"I trusted the doctors, I trusted the teachers. That part was so painful to understand. Parents are bullied. Doctors tell them: "Would you rather have a dead daughter or alive son?" Siyamak sits down with Erin Friday, a lawyer and parent advocate. Today she will discuss California laws on gender transformation, and how she dealt with this personally.

"In the name of green energy, we're sacrificing wildlife species. Because of the power mandates, we're unable to enforce the take of that. I don't think they have thought what that cost is to us as Californians and to the environment as a whole." Siyamak sits down with John Baker, retired Assistant Chief with California Fish and Wildlife Department. Today he'll discuss the double standards he expe...

“I’ve never seen a more insidious, inane, exploitive, and cruel plan put forth to the American public. You’re asking non-slave owners to pay people who were never slaves $5 million per black guy in San Francisco. The average household is going to have to pay $600,000.” Siyamak sits down with Tony Hall, a former supervisor with San Francisco County. Today he’ll explain what California and San Franc...

“Residents are seeing homeless in the alleys, [there’s] dumpster fires, they’re cooking drugs, cooking meth … Individuals are defecating, shooting up heroin … It’s a matter of will from the city.” Siyamak sits down with John Alley, real estate owner and co founder of The Santa Monica Coalition. Today, Mr. Alley explains why this coalition exists and why business owners in Santa Monica have decided...

“I’ve never believed in my wildest dreams that we would see it get this bad. These aren’t just people stealing property, it’s now getting very serious and escalating to violence.” Siyamak sits down with John Kabateck, state director of the NFIB, which represents many small businesses in California. He tells us how businesses are impacted by crime, and what the impacts are if California does not fi...