John Riley Project

Here’s what’s going on in and around San Diego County. Here’s what John Riley thinks on Friday, Dec 2 nd . Dateline: San Diego: Is the $160B San Diego Commuter Rail worth it? East County: Sheriff tipping off Cannabis Raids Imperial Beach: Housing is #1 issue, senior poverty Lemon Grove: Buy 1, Get 1 Free Campaign San Diego: Vacation Rental Lottery comes up short San Diego: Home Prices drop fourth...

Merge 56 is one of many hot topics in and around San Diego County. Here’s what John Riley thinks on Wednesday, Nov 30 th . San Diego News Headlines: Rancho Penasquitos: Merge 56 Expansion (Camino del Sur and Hwy 56) – the locals are angry with the changes to build taller buildings and add greater density. Poway: Amazon Fresh fully automated grocery store closed indefinitely Escondido: Lake Hodges...

They are still counting the votes at the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, but the results are becoming very clear in all but a few races. It’s time for local election analysis! We discuss, analyze, and comment on: The races for Poway Mayor and Poway City Council and what is in store for Poway’s future. The very tight race still in Poway Unified School District Area C. Will Heather Plotz...

It’s Election Night 2022! We focus on the Poway Mayor race, Poway City Council races, and the Poway Unified School District races in this nearly 4 hour long podcast. OMG. The participation from the livestream audience was extraordinary! We break down the early returns from the San Diego Registrar of Voters. We comment on the individual races and candidates, as well as a little bit of commentary on...

Frida Brunzell is a candidate for Poway Unified School District Board Trustee in Area B. This covers Northeast Rancho Bernardo and North Poway. Only 75% of PUSD Students Read at Grade Level Frida shared with me her frustrations with PUSD’s reading curriculum. 25% of PUSD students are not reading at their grade level. According to Frida Brunzell, PUSD is still teaching reading using a flawed method...

There is one week to go until Election Day and the drama in the Poway elections is heating up! Pete Neild joined me to cover a range of issues and candidates in this Poway Elections Preview episode. Poway Elections Drama We discuss the Holly Oak community’s objection to the new development along Poway Road, as well as the “solidarity press conference” that was organized and then later cancelled. W...

Amit Asaravala is the President of the Poway Democratic Club. Amit joined me to discuss the tremendous surge of money in Poway politics, the changing voting demographics in Poway, and information on their endorsed candidates. Poway Campaign Finance The financial data was the most eye-opening. Individual people can donate up to $250 for a specific candidate. Amit Asaravala shared that even on the i...

If you love Poway history, you will love this podcast episode. Ed Franklin moved to Poway in 1974 as a young child and had so many exceptional stories to tell. Poway History We take a walk down memory lane discussing the different businesses that have come and gone along Poway Road. Did you know the site of the Evans Tire used to be a drive-thru dairy where people could get a gallon of milk, a pac...

Tony Russo is a candidate for Poway City Council District 3. I live in District 3, so this was a great opportunity to learn more about Tony Russo’s campaign for Poway. Lack of Trust from Poway Officials We started by discussing Tony’s experience at the Green Valley Civic Association and Poway Chamber’s Candidate Forum. His competitors were stressing safety as their key priority. Tony disagre...

Yuri Bohlen is a candidate for Poway Mayor, and he joined me for a marathon 3-hour podcast covering so many hot topics in the City of Poway. Our livestream audience was also continually active presenting questions and comments for Yuri to respond to. Here are the highlights: Yuri wants to make “Poway the City in the Country” again. He wants to stop unfair housing mandates from Sacramento and let P...

Patrick Batten is a candidate for Poway School Board running in Area C covering parts of Rancho Penasquitos, Rancho Bernardo, and 4S Ranch. Patrick is attempting to win the race to fill the seat of departing incumbent TJ Zane. The US Marine Corps Patrick shared his background growing up with a single parent facing tremendous financial challenges. He discussed his time at San Diego State University...

Poway Mayoral Candidate, Delta Esparza, joined me for a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation in the JRP podcast studio. Delta is one of four challengers attempting to unseat Poway Mayor Steve Vaus. Our 1.5-hour discussion offers great insight into Delta’s background, values, character, and vision for Poway. Highlights include: Delta’s family background growing up in South LA to immigrant paren...

Poway City Council Candidate, Kevin Juza, joined me for a fun and informative podcast conversation. Kevin is one of three candidates running in my own District 3. We chatted for nearly 2 hours and had terrific input from the live audience spanning topics like: Kevin’s family background in Indianapolis, Northern California, Minnesota, and eventually coming to Poway. His career as a business consult...

This was such an enjoyable podcast conversation with Poway City Council Candidate, Hiram Soto. We covered a tremendous amount of ground in this 1.5-hour podcast discussion including: Hiram’s family background in Mexico His career as a journalist at the San Diego Union Tribune and how that shaped him on the issues of transparency, integrity, and digging for the truth. His surprise that a Poway Coun...

Urbn Leaf wants to move into Rancho Bernardo Urbn Leaf, a marijuana dispensary, wants to move into the long abandoned El Torito restaurant location in Rancho Bernardo.  As you might imagine, the locals are not taking this Rancho Bernardo marijuana situation sitting down. We cover the story, the objections by the RB Community Planning Board, the objections by residents and the churches, and th...

The air conditioning system at Rancho Bernardo High School and Bernardo Heights Middle School is broken!  We are dealing with sweltering heat and now kids are being sent home because the classroom is unsafe.  What is going on at Poway Unified School District? We break down the story and the short-term fixes PUSD is working on to solve the problem. We also take a look at their finances in...

Dennis Butts from the Poway Postal Annex (in Target Shopping Center) joined me to talk sports and it was so fun!  Dennis is a huge LA sports fan, but he doesn’t rub it in too badly for us San Diego fans. ? Every time I visit his Postal Annex store, we always talk sports. It’s a real joy.  So, we finally decided to actually do this as a podcast! Topics included: Growing up in Toledo OH an...

The cost of college tuition is sky high, but the price of clothing at Costco is very inexpensive. We explore government’s role in causing prices to rise and student debt to expand. Biden’s Plan to Cancel Student Debt Liberals in Congress are pushing Biden to cancel $10,000 of student debt. But is that enough? Bernie and Warren want $50K in relief. We break down Biden’s student debt plan, who gets...

The MLB Trade Deadline wrapped up Tuesday afternoon and my head is still spinning.  So much activity that I am just now starting to come back down to Earth. Juan Soto and the San Diego Padres We break down the big trades AJ Preller and the Padres made for Juan Soto, Josh Bell, Brandon Drury, and Josh Hader. The Soto/Bell deal may go down as the biggest trade in MLB history. Plus, we take a lo...

People ask me all the time how I started this podcast and why I did it. So, today’s podcast is a podcast about podcasting! We will cover the inspiration from my show, the personal benefits in podcasting, and some of the basics on how I started my podcast.  We will discuss content, audio, podcast hosting, video, livestreaming, cameras, and much more. #podcast #livestream #Streamyard Thank you! Get...

Legendary sports radio and NFL play-by-play icon, Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton joined for a wide conversation about his career, the San Diego sports media market, the San Diego Chargers and more. Hacksaw and the History of Sports Talk Radio Lee shared his Long Island roots and the start of his radio news/DJ career in his college days on a radio station in Appalachia.  After a great run broadcasting...

We are hearing shrieks of “Corporate Greed!” as inflation surges. But is it really Corporate Greed? Corporations are Price Gouging!  Really? Prices are up most everywhere: gas, food, labor. Inflation is now at 9.1%. I haven’t seen it this high since I was in high school over 40 years ago. Some are calling this price gouging or corporate greed, but is it? Businesses are always seeking to maxim...

Roe vs Wade has been overturned. What does this mean about individual rights? The End of Roe vs Wade The most divisive issue in our culture has been flipped on its ear thanks to SCOTUS overturning Roe vs Wade. Now individual states can establish their own rules. States have been preparing for this outcome with some states reinforcing the right to choose and other states doing the opposite. Huge de...

How can you pursue your happiness in a housing crisis? Or better yet, how can you not violate the right of others to do the same? Housing Crisis We examine the housing crisis and the unintended consequences of central planning. Despite do-gooders’ best efforts to make housing affordable, we have homelessness and insane housing prices. We explore the $1 million per unit “low income” housing units a...

The Golden State Warriors are enjoying their 6 th NBA Finals in 8 years and are on the cusp of their fourth championship in that timeframe. I share my early memories as a Golden State Warriors fan. We then discuss financial planning for retirement and the shocking low savings rates in America. Is this due to a false sense of security that government will save the day? Is it a huge financial educat...