California Politics 360 full episode | Public safety concerns as homicide rates reach state low
Attorney General Rob Bonta laid out his recommendations to cut gun deaths by 30-50% in a new report.
Homicide rates dropped to *** six-decade low, but law enforcement leaders questioned, Should we be doing more to tackle crime? It just Frustrating that people are hesitant to do anything to make the reforms on mental health diversion, elderly parole. Fast food business owners and workers left in limbo. It’s just day by day. We operate our business to the best of our ability. The state’s fast food council, meant to set rules for the industry, has not met in 2 years. We asked Governor Newsom, is the group going defunct? Seeking to be California’s next state comptroller. I know finance, it’s easy for me. I wake up every day, I see numbers, and I really, really, truly understand this stuff. How Herb Morgan hopes to use his finance background to protect the state’s public funds. Two years to the 2028 Summer Olympics. All the excitement and challenges ahead for Los Angeles. Thank you for joining us for California Politics 360. I’m Ashley Zavala. California’s homicide rates dipped to their lowest levels in almost six decades. Nearly 67% of killings last year involved *** gun. This week California’s Attorney General made 74 recommendations he thinks could dramatically reduce gun deaths. He laid it out in *** 5 year plan. The Attorney General believes these recommendations will cut deaths involving *** gun by 30 to 50%, but some law enforcement officials are skeptical of the new numbers and say there is more to be done. When lawmakers come back to the Capitol, they’ll consider several public safety related proposals that try to crack down on crime. I sat down with former assemblyman and now current Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper. Here’s part of our conversation. I just want to get *** temperature check on what you make of what lawmakers and the governor have done on crime so far this year. Not enough, not enough. What, what work do you think they need to do? There’s still work to be done and it just, it’s just. Frustrating that people are hesitant to do anything to make the reforms on mental health diversion, elderly parole, on Prop 36. There’s so many things and it’s like the public supports it and on Prop 36, for instance, 70% of Californians voted on that in all 58 counties. Not one statewide official supported it, and that’s troubling. You’re there to represent your constituents and voters, and we knew ahead of time what the polls said. And yet still no one supported that, as did *** lot of other lawmakers never supported it. Prop 36, it tried to ramp up the penalties for repeat thieves and drug dealers. It tries to create this new treatment mandated felony. What’s it like right now enforcing that new law? So law enforcement is enforcing it. The issue is no funding. No funding came with it, so it has had an impact. Folks know they’ll go to jail now, so we’ve seen *** change. Even some of the retailers have said, Hey, we’ve noticed it too, so it is working. Without funding, it doesn’t go anywhere. So are people sitting in jail? How is that working? So some folks are in jail. We’re able to arrest people and put them in jail where they belong, but we need programs to help. get the help they need for the ones that want to. Some folks are just doing it because for so long it wasn’t *** crime. So essentially because of the lack of funding, people who are facing these charges, are they allowed back out on the street and they’re not getting that treatment? Or how is that? Some are being allowed back on the streets. That’s unfortunate. Like I said, it’s the will of voters. That’s who you’re elected to serve. They put you in office and yet you don’t want to follow their will. That’s kind of ironic. Lawmakers and the governor, they’ve noted they. Put 375 million toward Prop 36 implementation this year. I don’t know if you’ve looked into that, if that’s going to help at all. What do you make of that? It’s *** drop in the bucket, and that’s really the big issue. It went on for so long and make no mistake, the only reason it passed was because the voters were so fed up because it was in their face. It was visceral. They saw folks walking out, stealing, running out, and the smash and grabs. That’s why it got to that level. I don’t think anything has ever passed that high in the state of California. Because it got so bad, the house burned down literally, but I mean right now there is this bill moving through our state capitol that would allow at least like theft to be added to the list of crimes that are eligible for mental health diversion, which allows. People to get mental health treatment instead of basically facing the consequences for some of these crimes. What do you make of that? It would water it down. There are some folks in the legislature, and they’re true believers for whatever reason. They don’t want anybody held accountable to go to *** county jail or prison, and that’s what we’re dealing with with some folks in California. Do you really see that passing though in this moment? You never know. You never know. It’s it’s been frustrating to sit here and watch some of those things, um, even with Shannon Groves’s bill, even trafficking of *** child, you’ve got Democratic supermajorities and they couldn’t get it together to deal with it, so Republicans got it passed. Thank God they got it passed because if you’re trafficking *** child, it should be *** violent felony. So just simple things like that that are, you know, just as *** as *** law enforcement officer, as *** sheriff, uh, it just troubles me. Sheriff Cooper also talks about his concern with domestic violence and not being considered *** violent felony in this state, what he has seen on the ground as sheriff, and the pushback he received around that whole discussion when he was *** state lawmaker. California’s Fast Food council has gone 2 years without having *** full meeting and 1 year without *** leader. I asked the governor, will he appoint *** new leader before he leaves office? The future of California’s first in the nation fast food council is in limbo. The council is made up of fast food workers, union leaders, and fast food franchisees. The group is supposed to bark in wages and working conditions for the state’s nearly half *** million fast food workers, but this council has not met in 2 years, and it’s been missing *** leader for more than 1 year. We’re asking, is this effort over? We really do need this clarification. This was Gabby Campbell two years ago at one of the California Fast Food Council’s last full meetings back in 2024. Hadn’t spoken, uh, with anyone from the council. Nobody’s reached out. Two years later, the Handel’s franchisee is still waiting to hear if California’s fast food minimum wage law applies to her ice cream stand. It’s just day, day by day. We, we operate our business, um. To the best of our ability. Treat the employees. With, you know, kindness and, uh, you know, grace, lot, lots of young first-timers that we have. I just wish that it was *** little, uh, easier for us as the franchisees, as the owners, to know that we were, that we were covered, um. And, and not part of this fast food. Craziness. The Fast Food council was part of *** first in the nation law state lawmakers and the governor passed in 2023, that set the minimum wage to $20 an hour for the workers of large fast food corporations. The council was meant to bargain the wages and working conditions for fast food workers, but that’s been anything but fast. Three. Years later, the council has yet to make any decisions. It’s also been without *** leader for more than *** year. The council’s ex-chairman, Nick Hardiman, acknowledged in 2024, the council has been deeply divided. *** spokesperson for the Department of Industrial Relations told us the council will not meet until it has *** new chair. Is it going defunct? Um, interesting, I, I. Not got *** fast food council question in some time, not going defunct by definition. I asked Governor Gavin Newsom about this. He’s responsible for appointing the council’s next leader. This group, this whole full council hasn’t met in 2 years, so that’s, that’s why I like, do you intend to appoint someone, it sounds like we’ll need to make that appointment, and so that appointment will be made and and the question is, is it *** matter of weeks or *** month, but as I said, I. You can’t do everything, you can’t do anything, uh, and, uh, and we have 4000, I think appointments that I make, uh, so there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, quite literally I can assure you if you saw my desk, uh, that, uh, that have been vetted and they’re just waiting for my final decision and I’m hopeful that’s in there as well. While franchiseses like Campbell want clarity on the law, fast food workers have been wanting hearings on worker abuses and another. Pay raise. Representatives with SEIU, the labor group that pushed for this law, were not available for an interview for the story. Either way, um, there’s no decision made for us, against us. There’s no decision made whether or not minimum wage can be raised again. I, I think everybody’s at *** standstill on this one. Last year’s state budget included $1.1 million for the council to hire four staff members. The Department of Industrial Relations confirmed all four of those positions have been filled. The department said the staff is working and preparing for upcoming meetings, but the department would not provide any more information beyond that. We also reached out to the Speaker of the state assembly Robert Revis and State Senate pro tem Monique Limon. Neither would comment for this story. Protecting California’s taxpayer money. Why state comptroller candidate Herb Morgan wants the job. Ahead of the general election in November, I’m sitting down with the candidates running for major statewide offices. This week we’re going to focus on state controller. This person is responsible for tracking and protecting the state’s public funds. They also chair the Franchise Tax Board. Here are. The two candidates running to be state controller, Democrat Malia Cohen is currently in the seat. She’s looking to be reelected. Republican Herb Morgan is challenging her this week. I sat down with Herb Morgan to hear how he would make an impact if elected state controller. Sitting down with Herb Morgan, I wake up every day, I see numbers. The Republican candidate for state controller spent decades working in finance for major Wall Street firms and says he’s got the best experience for the job. Well, the job I want to do is be second baseman for the Dodgers, but I’m not qualified, and it really just, it’s illustrative of your point. You need qualifications to do these jobs. This is not *** partisan role, right? It’s not *** policy role. The state controller should be. Run the state comptroller’s office should be run by somebody who has *** background in finance. Are you saying Malia Cohen is not? I am saying that yes, she does not have *** background in finance, although I’m sure she’s *** very nice person. OK, but I have 40 years of experience in the private sector, specifically in finance. I sit on company boards of directors. I sit in audit committees. I was part of the team that reformed the San Diego City pension system. I was elected twice to be the chairman of that system, and we turned that system around. This is when trustees have been indicted for crying out loud. This is the only thing I’m good at. I can’t hit *** golf ball. I can’t run fast, uh, I can’t barely see out of my left eye, but I, I know finance. It’s easy for me. Morgan says he would use artificial intelligence to track and make the state’s money information easier for the public to access. As the person in charge of the state’s checkbook, he says he would regularly audit state spending. What would be your first state audit if you are elected controller? There’ll be *** number that happen, so there’s there’s two areas. Number one, you have what’s the biggest dollar amount and then what’s the biggest percentage amount that you suspect may be in jeopardy. So the biggest of our programs obviously is Medi-Cal. So that is front and center day one and there’s *** lot of different departments and divisions. But then on *** percentage where we suspect there’s the most leakage, that is our programs of compassion that are served through NGOs, non-governmental organizations. OK, for people who look at their ballot, they see that you have *** Republican next to your name. The state has not elected *** Republican to statewide office in nearly two decades. What would be your message to people who might be hesitant to elect you with an R? Well, number one, I don’t set policy. I’m really just the math guy. That’s important. But number 2, I mean, people do ask me this why are you *** Republican? And I always tell them. That I have *** very long term historical view on my political party and I remember the foundations of our party. I use the term radical transparency, and that is my nod to the radical Republicans who advocated for the 14th Amendment, uh, President Eisenhower, who sent the troops to Little Rock, Susan B. Anthony, who gained the women’s right to vote. Those are the reasons I’m *** Republican. I think Ronald Reagan, you know, saved. Tens of millions of lives by defeating communism. Uh, so I take the long term view as an investor, my 40 years as an investor, always look at the long term, and sometimes you invest in something when it’s down, and I know that our brand in California is down. We’re not the most popular political party, but we certainly can be. Turnarounds do happen. I want to be part of that, uh, along with my friend Steve Hilton, who has *** great vision for the Republican Party and for the state of California. I’m happy to be part of that. My full 15 minute conversation with candidate for state controller Republican Herb Morgan is available right now on Calpolitics 360.com. Well, we’re 2 years out from the LA 28 Olympics. What challenges lawmakers are trying to figure out and the lessons they learned from the World Cup. Tuesday marks 2 years until the start of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. LA will host more than 10,000 Olympians competing for gold across 31 sports. Millions of people will travel to Southern California to just catch *** glimpse of the games. With that though comes challenges surrounding transportation, accommodation, and security. I sat down with the leader of the state Senate’s Special Committee on International Sporting events, El Segundo State Senator Ben Allen. Here’s part of our conversation. So just on *** scale of 1 to 10, how prepared right now in this moment do you think LA is for the 2028 Olympics? Oh gosh, well, let’s say, uh, cause I have *** little kid, let’s say 67, you know, I, I, I think there’s still *** lot more work to be done, and we’re learning *** lot, um, from the World Cup experience. Uh, but, uh, but we’re, I think we’re gonna be there, we’re gonna be ready. Uh, it’s just, you know, it’s, it’s still 2 years away and we got *** lot more work to do. What are the takeaways from the World Cup lessons learned so far that you might apply? Yeah, so it’s *** great question. I mean, obviously, you know, folks have been having *** really good experience in general. Uh, Soi has just performed spectacularly down in Los Angeles. Uh, I, you know, I got to attend *** game in, in Northern California, one in Soi, and I gotta tell you, it’s, it, you know, just being in the, under the dome. Uh, in that spectacular stadium down in Southern California is *** really superlative experience for, for folks. Uh, but, um, look, uh, congestion, uh, we’ve certainly seen significant congestion around the stadium, uh, and, you know, during these World Cup games, so we gotta do more public outreach. We’ve got to be better prepared. Uh, for, uh, for, for the in and out for *** metro system, it’s gonna be better with regards to traffic control and trash pickup and basic city services that are gonna have to exceed normal levels. We’ve got *** lot of political takeaways, uh, including visa problems, the need to start vetting much earlier than before. We had *** situation where there was *** referee that was trying to get into the United States to be able to ref *** game, and he was denied. Uh, uh, entrance, of course we had all the madness with the Iranian team that had to be based in Mexico and come across the border just for the day. Those were challenges. Uh, we had huge spikes in parking costs, uh, uh, you know, around the stadia, uh, uh, you know, but Metro at the same time was offering these really efficient, cheap, $1.75 express shuttles from all over the LA area, and so we got to figure out how to double down on transit, make sure we have good ways for people to get in and out. We have to have many, many more buses, of course, the You know, the, the, the World Cup is *** much smaller operation actually than the Olympics. Uh, there’s so many more venues and things happening around the city with the Olympics. Um, but, um, so I’m, you know, I’m, I’m, and then of course there’s the question about, about ticket prices, uh, very expensive going to the World Cup, um, certainly we’ve seen. Some high prices for some of these original drops for the Olympics, uh, that is of concern. Uh, there are, you know, individuals, uh, there are some, some, some lower cost tickets that are, that are going to be sold to $28 tickets, uh, to make sure that people around the community can buy them. Um, but, um, yeah, it’s lots, lots to learn, lots to apply. Yeah, I mean, with the World Cup, has it given any indication about what the relationship might look like, the working relationship with the federal government? On some of the infrastructure that’s needed for LA 28, I mean, do you have any worries about maybe the federal government not holding up its end of the bargain just given the way the tension is right now between the state and feds? Yeah, it’s ***, it’s *** very complicated relationship, I think, as everybody knows. I will say that we all have *** very vested interest, every one of us, from the federal government, from the president to the governor to the legislature to the local folks. Everybody wants to see this Olympics be successful. Uh, this is an opportunity to showcase all that makes America great, California great, Los Angeles great, and, uh, there’s ***, there’s *** shared interest there. And I will say, so far, uh, we’ve been having really positive, uh, interactions with the White House and with the Republican leadership in the, in the legis in the Congress, uh, it’s been very bipartisan, uh, uh, so, so we’re, we’re, you know, we’ve already gotten, you know, significant federal resources on security and, and, and, and, and cooperation there. Uh, so, obviously, you know, we’re always, uh, gonna be watching this area. Uh, you know, the Olympics, you know, and, and the World Cup, you know, bring countries together, the Olympics is all about trying to bring countries together in *** peaceful way. Uh, hopefully it’s gonna bring our country together in ***, in *** really special way, just as we’ve seen our country get behind our, our World Cup team, I think we’re gonna see the same thing happen, uh, at *** much greater level with these Olympics. Senator Allen and I also talk about how LA will use technology to enhance the fan experience again for LA 28. Well, right now on Calpolitics 360.com you can watch this week’s full interviews. We also want to hear from you what issues do you want us to cover. Send us an email at contact@calpolitics360.com. Thank you so much for joining us for this week’s California Politics 360. See you next week.
California Politics 360 full episode | Public safety concerns as homicide rates reach state low
Attorney General Rob Bonta laid out his recommendations to cut gun deaths by 30-50% in a new report.
Updated: 8:25 AM PDT Jul 12, 2026
California’s homicide rates dipped to their lowest level in almost six decades. California Attorney General Rob Bonta laid out his recommendations to cut gun deaths by 30-50% in a new report.Some law enforcement officials are skeptical of the new data and say there is more to be done. On California Politics 360, Ashley Zavala sits down with former State Assembly member and current Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper. The future of California’s first-in-the-nation fast food council is in limbo. The full council hasn’t met in two years and has been without a leader for more than a year. Zavala asks the governor: Is the council going defunct? Ahead of the general election in November, we are sitting down with candidates running for major statewide offices. This week, Zavala sits down with candidate for the state controller, Republican Herb Morgan. Tuesday marks two years until the start of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. LA will host more than 10,000 Olympians competing for gold across 31 sports. Zavala sits down with the leader of the Senate’s Special Committee on International Sporting Events, El Segundo State Senator Ben Allen.KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.
California’s homicide rates dipped to their lowest level in almost six decades. California Attorney General Rob Bonta laid out his recommendations to cut gun deaths by 30-50% in a new report.
Some law enforcement officials are skeptical of the new data and say there is more to be done. On California Politics 360, Ashley Zavala sits down with former State Assembly member and current Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper.
The future of California’s first-in-the-nation fast food council is in limbo. The full council hasn’t met in two years and has been without a leader for more than a year. Zavala asks the governor: Is the council going defunct?
Ahead of the general election in November, we are sitting down with candidates running for major statewide offices. This week, Zavala sits down with candidate for the state controller, Republican Herb Morgan.
Tuesday marks two years until the start of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. LA will host more than 10,000 Olympians competing for gold across 31 sports. Zavala sits down with the leader of the Senate’s Special Committee on International Sporting Events, El Segundo State Senator Ben Allen.
KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.