SacTown Talks

Today we are happy to have California Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva who represents the 65th Assembly District, which includes portions of northern Orange County. She talked about helping to open up Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm, and the opening up of the economy in her district. She also discusses her bills for the session including specific funding for projects in her district and prioriti...

Today we bring you a solemn episode celebrating the life of Scott Lay. Mainly known for his must-read daily newsletter, the Nooner, Scott was also a community college advocate, Buddhist, lover of farmer’s markets and tacos, and passionate about politics and policy. He helped start SacTown Talks and, behind the scenes, was still giving valuable advice and assistance. Our guests are two of his oldes...

Today we welcome veteran lobbyist Kristina Bas Hamilton. From 2010 to 2020, she worked as a policy analyst then lead lobbyist for the United Domestic Workers (UDW/AFSCME Local 3930). We discuss her background, what political changes she’s seen in Sacramento, why she started her own consulting firm, how she adapted to lobbying in the time of covid, and an insightful look into working in a male-domi...

Today we interview Jaime Zepeda, community organizer, nonprofit and small business advisor and tech leader and candidate for California State Senate District 10. He tells the amazing story of journeying to California by himself as a high school student to live the American dream, how that relates to why he is running for office, how learning to campaign during covid has presented challenges and op...

Tomorrow is the recall election of California Governor Gavin Newsom so we thought it best to consult an expert. And we found the best recall election expert out there: Joshua Spivak. He’s Senior Fellow at Wagner College’s Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform, the author of Recall Elections: From Alexander Hamilton to Gavin Newsom , and runs The Recall Elections Blog. We learn the history...

Today we welcome back to the program California State Senator Scott Wiener of San Francisco. The senator joins us to discuss his legislative priorities, which include housing zoning and development, drug decriminalization, changes to alcohol laws to help restaurants and bars stay open, and a host of investments for his districts.    SacTown Talks is a podcast about California politics, policy and...

Today we interview Rocklin City Councilmember, Joe Patterson. Rocklin, California is a suburb of Sacramento about 30 mins northeast of the California capitol. Joe has been a council member for 5 years, and we discuss all things housing from a local perspective. Joe takes us through all the steps of the building process, how he works to assuage concerns over new building with local residents, and h...

Our guest this week is former California Assemblymember Mike Gatto back with more insight into the inner workings of California politics with an episode on the end-of-session when California passes its budget and all the wheeling and dealing gets done. Listen as he describes some of the things he learned, and what he thinks all citizens should understand about the process.  SacTown Talks is a podc...

Today we welcome Darrell Review, President of the California Association of Code Enforcement Officers. He takes us through California Senate Bill 296 which would mandate locality to establish training for code enforcement officers which would modernize, professionalize and protect code enforcement officers around California, with no new costs to taxpayers.   SacTown Talks is a podcast about Califo...

Today’s guest is labor lawyer and former political candidate Kipp Mueller. Kipp discusses why he became a workers rights attorney, how he ran for California state senate by happenstance, his best and worst experiences campaigning, and his future in California politics.  SacTown Talks is a podcast about California politics, policy and culture. We feature interviews with California political leaders...

Today we interview Rodney Wilson, currently an elite realtor and formerly a legislative staffer. Rodney was chief of staff to Assemblymember before starting a career outside of politics and the legislature. He firmly believes that the link between his work in the legislature and in real estate is people, and that working on a common set of goals, communicating clearly, and managing expectations ar...

Today we welcome three guests for a labor law regulations panel: Tom Sheehy of the Sheehy Strategy Group, Ashley Hoffman, Policy Advocate for the California Chamber of Commerce, and John Kabateck, California State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business and President of Kabateck Strategies. We discuss new California mandates on worker leave and their effects on employers of al...

Today we welcome California Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua from the 13th Assembly District, encompassing the cities of Stockton, Tracy, Thornton, and Mountain House. He discusses his path to the Assembly, including a great story about having a supervisor come to him after being confronted by angry seniors. He talks about campaigning during covid, being new to the capitol, what his bill package l...

Today we welcome California Assemblymember Luz Rivas of the 39th District encompassing the northeastern San Fernando Valley, running up into the San Gabriel Mountains. We discuss her background in engineering, going to MIT, and how that led to her STEM non-profit ( https://www.diygirls.org ) and her entry into politics. We then segue into a detailed discussion of her budget asks, what some of her...

Our guest this week is Stacey Gordon, the Chief Diversity Strategist at Rework Work. We have a fascinating discussion of implicit and unconscious biases, why we have them, how to test for them, and what we can do about them. Her book, UNBIAS: Addressing Unconscious Bias at Work debuted at #1 on Amazon’s Hot New Release list and is also available at Barnes & Nobles, and wherever books are sold. Sta...

Today we welcome California State Senator David Min of Senate District 37 covering Orange County. We discuss how he went from a policy guy to a politician, campaigning during covid and why he thinks his district wanted a change. Then we discuss Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders both a voting block in his district and across CA, as well as how we can all work together to stop the racial hatred...

Today we welcome a very special guest, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert. D.A. Schubert has announced her candidacy for California Attorney General and we discuss her background, why she decided to run now, and why her experiences make her the most qualified candidate for California Attorney General.  SacTown Talks is a podcast about California politics, policy and culture. W...

Today we welcome Jamie Zoller and Matthew Silver of the California Association of Code Enforcement Officers (CACEO). They explain what code enforcement is, how it’s different from being a peace officer, how the CACEO is professionalizing California code enforcement, why the job has become more dangerous and legislation that can help.     SacTown Talks is a podcast about California politics, policy...

Today we welcome State Senator Susan Eggman of the 5th Senate District, representing Stockton California. The senator touches on transitioning from an Assembly Member to a Senator, the upcoming budget, and how covid affected her district. She also discusses her Right to Repair bill, mental health and homelessness, and the balancing act that is water rights in the state. There is also a lively disc...

Today we welcome California State Senator Patrica “Pat” Bates of the 36th Senate District to the program. Pat was also a former Assembly Member and we discuss the changes she has seen between her time the Assembly in the early aughts and now, why compromise and collegiality is still the key to success in California politics, and her legislative priorities around fentanyl sentencing and Proposition...

Today we welcome political consultant and leader of the Ronin Project Bill Wong. Bill joins us to discuss the rise of anti-Asian hate in California and across the United States, why this moment is a turning point for politically minded Asian Americans, and what type of cost his organization is going to exact from those that use hateful rhetoric.  SacTown Talks is a podcast about California politic...

Today we welcome California Assemblymember Miguel Santiago of the 53rd Assembly District, which covers downtown and east side Los Angeles. Assemblymember Santigo joins us to discuss his background and how his district is one of the poorest in California, while also being one of the most culturally rich. Then they discuss a key issue for the Assmebleymember: human trafficking and how his budget req...

Our guest this week is former California Assemblymember Mike Gatto to discuss all things Appropriations Committee. As a former chair during the Great Recession, Mike can explain all the nuances of how and why bills get passed and debunks the four greatest myths of the committee that even legislators still believe.     SacTown Talks is a podcast about California politics, policy and culture. We fea...

Today we welcome California Assemblymember Mike Gipson of the 64th Assembly District.  We discuss why he sees his transition from police officer to labor leader and politician as a continuation of public service, how giving someone a job can stop a bullet, his priorities of community building and reimaging policing, and why he chose the bowtie for his signature sartorial look.  SacTown Talks is a...

Today’s interview is with political consultant Shawnda Westly. She tells her heartbreaking story of medical malpractice and an in-depth look at California’s Medical Insurance Compensation Reform Act. MICRA limits the amount of money patients can receive in damages. She discusses how MICRA works, including some parts that are relatively unknown, why the laws should be changed, what type of resistan...