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TRANSCRIPT

The Drew Carey Project, Volume 1
Transcript
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For reason.tv: Gridlock
Drew Carey: Hi, I’m Drew Carey, here at the corner of Sunset and Highland in Los Angeles, California,
one of the worst intersections in all of Los Angeles. It’s only a quarter after 4:00. They already have a
traffic cop in the middle of the intersection directing traffic. He’s here all the time. The traffic goes all
the way back in each direction blocks and blocks. There’s no end in sight to it. Los Angeles, along with
a lot of other cities like Portland, San Francisco, Minneapolis, you know, traffic is the #1 concern, the #1
complaint among the people that live here and like a lot of places in America, it’s only going to get worse.
So, you live in LA, right?
Male Resident 1: I do.
Drew Carey: And what do you think about the traffic here?
Male Resident 1: It sucks.
Male Resident 2: It’s disgusting.
Drew Carey: Yeah. Everyone in LA complains about traffic but we didn’t want to talk too just anyone.
We wanted to talk to the poor soul with the most congested commute in LA. We asked John and Ken
from radio station KFI AM 640 for help.
DJ John: So we teamed up with Drew and the Reason Foundation to start the Most Congested Commute
here in the LA area.
DJ Ken: Remember, not the longest commute. Those of you who have been stuck in a whole lot of
traffic is what we’re looking for.
Drew Carey: And you can’t have a car driving you there either. I don’t want to hear from Harvey
Weinstein about how bad his commute is.
DJ Ken: I hear people say this. The no. 1 reason they’d want to move out of LA…..
DJ John: Traffic.
DJ Ken: …..is the traffic
Drew Carey: Yeah, but you guys like congestion because it keeps people listening to your radio.
DJ John: Yeah. No, we freely admit that.
2

Drew Carey: Well, we heard plenty of traffic sob stories and finally found our contest winner. Meet
graphic artist Josh Lipking.
Josh Lipking: I do this every morning. Check out Sig Alert, Google traffic.
Drew Carey: Every day he kisses his wife goodbye—
Josh Lipking: Love you, girl.
Josh’s Wife: Love you, too. Bye—
Josh Lipking: Have a good day.
Josh’s Wife: You, too.
Drew Carey: And drives into hell.
Josh Lipking: That’s when, you know, you get this heart pumping in your chest. You start to sweat a
little and just kind of bite the bullet and just go for it.
Drew Carey: But he tries to make the most of the time he spends stuck in traffic.
Josh Lipking: So, this is a great little tool, 1-hand flossier. And it’s slow enough where, you know,
people are putting on their makeup, people are shaving. I had chicken for dinner last night.
Drew Carey: You know, if you get tired of the traffic in LA you can always take the bus if you have a
day and a half to get to work.
Josh Lipking: Oh, I’ve used transit.
Drew Carey: Josh actually gave his car away and he used public transit for over a year but it turned out
the bus was even slower than driving.
Josh Lipking: The transit out here is stuck in the traffic.
Drew Carey: So Josh eventually bought another car. Josh lives only 16 miles from work but it often
takes him an hour and a half to get to the office. At the end of the day, it’s the same fight to get back
home - 3 hours a day! No one should have to live like this. We’ve got to find a way to speed up Josh’s
commute.
Drew Carey: What would you do about traffic if you were the king of Los Angeles?
Male Resident 1: If I was the king of Los Angeles? Hmmm, well I think we’re pretty much screwed.
Drew Carey: I’d make people use their gas pedal more and I’d make them pull all the way up to the
bumper in front of them.
Drew Carey: On the “John and Ken Show,” I suggested other ways to bust congestion, like letting
private companies pay for roads.
3

DJ Ken: Well, how would that help?
Drew Carey: Well, first of all, taxpayers wouldn’t have to pay for the road. Like I was talking to
somebody from the Reason Foundation at dinner and I go what do you think we should do about
something like the 101 and he goes just double-decker it and I go “Who’s going to pay?” and he says,
“Let a private company do it and they can charge people to ride on the road. You can get a Fast Pass and
you pay 5-bucks.”
DJ John: Sure, the top deck could be for the tolls.
Drew Carey: Yes. And if you privatize it, you can have different companies bidding—I would love to
own a freeway in LA
DJ John: The Drew Carey Freeway?
Drew Carey: Yeah—Maybe the Drew Carey Freeway would look something like this snazzy doubledecked
toll road in Tampa, Florida or maybe I’d build my road underground. Here’s a tunnel that’s being
built in Paris. Tunnels that run underneath Australian cities help people get around town. The private
sector paid for all these.
Josh Lipking: Life would be much happier without the congestion.
Drew Carey: So, let’s build the Josh Lipking tunnel. Double-deck one of the freeways he uses or, hey,
how about building some special express lanes like the one accountant Cedric Allen uses.
Cedric Allen: Oh, this piece of paper - this is the billing statement for using the 91 Express Lane,168
total trips valued at a cost of $548 which people see that and they’ll go, “WOW, you spend that much?”
Drew Carey: The 91 Express Lanes isn’t your typical toll road. A private company built it in the middle
of the 91 Freeway in Orange County, California. The express lanes run right next to the regular lanes so
drivers can choose to use them or not and you don’t have to stop at toll booths. Tolls are collected
electronically from this gadget that hangs overhead. When traffic gets bad the price of the toll rises. The
OCTA owns the 91 Express Lanes. Here’s spokesman Ted Nguyen.
Ted Nguyen: The average toll is about $2.76. The low end is about $1.50 and the high end is about
$9.50.
Drew Carey: Sounds pricey but each day about 40,000 people pay the toll because the special lanes let
them zoom past slow-moving traffic. Mailman Demetrius Mikes battles through congestion on his way
home but once he hits the express lanes his commute speeds right up.
Demetrius Mikes: To me it saves you about an hour and a half to two hours.
Drew Carey: Traffic often keeps parents from picking up kids at day care on time. Imagine paying five
bucks for each minute you’re late. Cedric knows all about that.
Cedric Allen: On an average week we would probably spend about $40.00 per child times three. That’s
$120.00 a week for being a few minutes late.
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Drew Carey: $120.00 a week. Once he started using the express lanes Cedric almost never had to pay
late fees, so paying a little can end up saving you a lot of money and time.
Demetrius Mikes: Oh, with the extra time I do my school work, you know, talk to my son, just time to
relax.
Cedric Allen: Have more time to prepare a decent meal. I have more time to spend with the family and
possibly even get in a movie before going to bed at night.
Drew Carey: Unpredictable traffic makes it hard for Josh to make plans even with his wife but with an
express lane, he could always make it home in time for dinner.
Josh Lipking: The 91 Toll Expressways—I think that’s a great idea.
Drew Carey: So, let’s see. Express lanes, tunnels, double-deckers, anything else we could do to get Josh
home fast?
Male Resident 2: There has to be some other ways to travel, like they should the use the air.
Drew Carey: Use the air? Hmmm—
Drew Carey: Hey man, I’m Drew. Nice to see you. How are you? Getting ready for the easiest way to
work you ever had in your life?
Josh Lipking: Yeah, let’s go for it.
Drew Carey: Yeah, come on. Follow me.
Drew Carey: Hope the helicopter doesn’t crash. The best words to show at my funeral though if it does.
Josh Lipking: This is the way to go. I’ve got to get my stuff set up to do this every day.
Drew Carey: Do traffic report.
Josh Lipking: Ten (10) west bound looking slow. Josh Lipking, Traffic Copter 12 in the sky.
Josh Lipking: So, that was a blast, huh?
Josh Lipking: Yeah, exactly. Thanks.
Drew Carey: At the end of the day, Josh rode the chopper back home. So long, 90-minute commute.
Josh Lipking: My commute - only 9 minutes. I have no idea what it even looks like in my
neighborhood at 5:00 p.m. I’m going to go inside, have some dinner with my wife. This is the greatest
thing. Thanks a lot.
Drew Carey: Such a happy ending or is it? We can’t keep flying Josh to work so it’s back to the
gridlock grind for him first thing tomorrow. Now, we could build some express lanes, tunnels, and
double-deckers. Taxpayers wouldn’t even have to pay for it. Then Josh, bus riders, and other commuters
could escape congestion every day and, hey, if we could beat gridlock in LA, we could beat it anywhere,
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ut if you’ve live in Los Angeles as long as I have, you really shouldn’t have much hope. It’s okay,
though, because I have a helicopter.
For reason.tv, I’m Drew Carey and I’m out of here in a helicopter.
Banner:
Drew got home in 7 minutes.
It took the crew 75 minutes.
But who’s counting?
6

For reason.tv: Living Large
Drew Carey: Ah-h-h, isn’t life in America great? But maybe I’m just an out-of-touch rich guy. Wonder
what it’s like for the middleclass in America?
CNN Lou Dobbs: What’s left of our middle class may be on the verge of collapse.
CNN New York Anchor Desk: The American dream is under siege.
CNN Lou Dobbs: Corporate America posting record profits so why in the world are middleclass
Americans suffering from declining pay and standards of living?
Drew Carey: Well, that’s a good question, Lou. We headed to California’s Castaic Lake to confront
some fat cats as they played around in the water with hardly a care in the world.
Tourist: Ha, ha, ha.
Drew Carey: Nothing but fast toys, Hummers and Escalades. Of course, their owners were happy to
brag about them.
Boat Owner 1: It’s a Yamaha. It’s a twin-engine high output.
Drew Carey: Ever seen the price tag for a 27-foot boat?
Boat Owner 3: Oh, it cost $50,000.
Boat Owner 2: It’s a special boat like for wakeboarding.
Male 2: Well, you need something to tow it, right? Ha Ha Ha.
Boat Owner 2: Every day that they wake up, they believe that this day is going to be better than
yesterday.
Drew Carey: Yeah. Well, today is going to be better than yesterday if all you gotta to do today is go
wakeboarding. This rich guy sees the world through rose-colored designer glasses, probably a trust fund
kid who doesn’t even have a job.
Interviewer Voice: What do you do for a living?
Boat Owner 2: I’m a gardener.
Drew Carey: A gardener? Well, this guy’s gotta be a fat cat CEO.
Interviewer Voice: What’s your job?
Boat Owner 3: I sell building materials.
Interviewer Voice: So you must be like a corporate CEO or something, right, to support something like
this?
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Boat Owner 1: Uh, no. Law Enforcement.
Drew Carey: A cop with a big boat and a Hummer. Ah ha. Here’s an auto mechanic who must be
struggling. He’s got no boat.
Interviewer Voice: Yeah, do you have a boat like this or—
Male 1: No. I have motorcycles.
Interviewer Voice: Yeah. What kind of motorcycles do you have?
Male 1: Oh, Hondas, Harleys, Suzuki. Got ‘em all.
Drew Carey: The boat belongs to his buddy, a truck driver. How can guys with regular jobs afford all
this? Maybe we just happened to visit the lake during the lottery winners’ reunion.
Michael Cox: Well, that is America’s middleclass today. It’s amazing the amount of stuff they’re able to
own and their consumption levels that they achieve today compared to the past.
Drew Carey: Economist Michael Cox is co-author of Myths of Rich and Poor, Why We’re Better Off
Than We Think. He says the middleclass is doing great but that’s not what we hear on TV.
CNN Lou Dobbs Anchor 1: The problem is their wages are low, they…
CNN Anchor 2: They’re reeling from stagnant wages.
Michael Cox: So many things wrong with that. First of all, those wages don’t include the benefits that
we bargain for - we demand.
Drew Carey: Even if you add in benefits, how much you earn is only part of the story. How much
things cost. Now, that’s another important part.
Michael Cox: Is the cost of everything going down? No. Is the cost of the vast array of things that
Americans purchase going down? Absolutely.
Drew Carey: What? That’s not what other people say.
CNN Lou Dobbs Anchor 3: It’s dangerous. It’s a vicious, vicious cycle. Everything’s going up.
Drew Carey: Money is how we usually measure the cost of living, but Cox things we should use
something more important to us—our time.
Michael Cox: Really, the best way to measure cost is in terms of work time. How long do I have to
work in order to afford to buy something? So, let’s just take a product, for example, the cell phone.
Drew Carey: The classic ’80s movie “Wall Street” takes us back to the early days of the cell phone
when corporate big shots went cordless with their $4,200 bricks.
Male Character of Movie: My wife tells me you made a move on Darien.
8

Drew Carey: Few regular people could afford cell phones because the average worker had to sweat for
460 hours to buy one. Boy, how times have changed.
Michael Cox: So this $50.00 phone is less than 3-hours of work; 460 then, 3 now. Huge declines in
prices enabling these things to be afforded by the middleclass and many other products, too.
Drew Carey: Only the rich owned cars a century ago, but today average Americans can afford shiny
SUVs. In terms of time, the cost of a car has fallen by more than 70%. The story is the same for
necessities. Food is 84% cheaper. Clothing is 87% cheaper.
Michael Cox: So food’s going down. Clothing is going down. Housing is going down in cost. We look
at the houses and we see that they’re much more expensive in money terms, but the houses are also twoand-a-half
times as large as back then and they have all the amenities.
Drew Carey: Today, the typical new home comes equipped with a dishwasher, stove, microwave,
fireplace, central heat and air and a bunch of other amenities that weren't standard in homes 50 years ago,
let alone a century ago. The falling cost of living allows regular Joes to own boats, vacation at lakes and
fly around the world. We checked it out. The cost of a cross-country flight has plummeted by 95%.
Michael Cox: When the flights first came out, they were the exclusive purview of the rich, the jet set, but
now the jet set includes just you get on planes and look, there’s people there of all income levels.
Drew Carey: Such progress and yet so many middleclass Americans feel lousy.
CNN News Reporter: And only 19% of middleclass Americans feel they are getting ahead in life.
Drew Carey: Gee, I wonder why. Maybe they’d be in a better mood if news programs weren’t packed
with doom and gloom but, you see, bad news gets ratings.
4-Different Anchor Desks: whether they’ll ever have the kind of . . . all the days. . .
Drew Carey: Remember the auto mechanic who collects motorcycles?
Male 1: Works good. Plenty of it. Just got another raise. Everything is good.
Drew Carey: Even folks who say things are going well for them are often convinced times are tough for
everyone else.
Male 1: Yeah. There’s some big guys and then there’s the poor people and there’s really no middleclass
anyway.
Michael Cox: These are things that they hear about propagated in the media.
Male 1: I guess the middleclass is always getting squeezed.
Drew Carey: Sure seems like he’s been watching a lot of TV.
CBS Sunday Morning: …squeezed is what a lot of middleclass Americans are these days.
9

CNN Anchor 4: …the middleclass squeeze.
CBS Report Public Response: There is a squeeze.
Drew Carey: If middleclass folks aren’t getting squeezed, they’re told they’re victims of war.
CNN Lou Dobbs: Corporate American escalating its war against the middleclass.
Drew Carey: And it’s always more difficult to…
CBS Report Public Response: …make ends meet.
CNN Lou Dobbs: …make ends meet.
CNN Report Public Response: It’s very, very difficult to make ends meet.
Michael Cox: But if you’re willing to settle for a living standard of the 1970s, it’s easier to make ends
meet. It’s not the high cost of living. It’s the cost of living high. It’s the fact that we insist on having so
much more.
Drew Carey: Too bad putting things in perspective is rarely considered newsworthy.
CBS News Reporter: But today much of the American middleclass is struggling.
Drew Carey: It’s much easier to stir up anxieties.
CNN Reporter Report: The Iraq War may be Democratic voters’ top issue but economic anxiety comes
next and…
Drew Carey: And bad news doesn’t just get ratings. It also gets votes.
CNN Report – Hillary Clinton’s Speaks: While productivity and corporate profits are up, the fruits of
that success just hasn’t reached many of our families. It’s like trickle-down economics but without the
trickle.
Michael Cox: If your life is bad, it’s clearly cruel and unfair. Vote for me and I’ll help.
Drew Carey: It’s a bipartisan theme.
President Bush Speak: The fact that our dynamic economy is leaving working people behind…
Michael Cox: There are people suffering out there and there’re always been people suffering out there.
There will always be people suffering out there. The poor you’ll always have with you, but how does it
compare to the past? Americans are richer today than in any time in history. We should really be
thankful that we live in a society where we don’t have to work day and night in order just to be at a living.
Drew Carey: We can spend more time with family and friends because it takes less time for us to buy
the things we need, so if you look at it that way, the future will be even better than today. So, don’t
worry. You’ll still be able to tell your kids how tough you had it compared to them.
For reason.tv, I’m Drew Carey.
10

For reason.tv: Dance Ban
Drew Carey: Hi, I’m Drew Carey. I was in the moving “Robots” with Halle Berry. I’m Craig, the
yellow robot, and Halle’s the cute silver robot. Halle Berry starred in “Bullworth” with Warren beatty
who co-starred with Goldie Hawn in “Shampoo” who was in “First Wives Club” with Sarah Jessica
Parker who was in “Footloose” with, you guessed it, Kevi
Remember “Footloose”? It’s that film from the ’80s about high school kids fighting for the right to
dance. Quaint, right? Well, believe it or not, we found our very own footloose story in the Arizona
desert. Somehow they knew we were coming.
Spencer Bell: Well, my name is Spencer Bell. I’m a junior at ASU. I’m going to the William P. Carey
School of Business for business management.
Dale Bell: Well, my name is Dale Bell and I, along with my son, Spencer, built the San Tan Flat
Steakhouse here in Queen Creek, Arizona.
Spencer Bell: The idea for San Tan Flat kind of came along. My dad and I were driving in a car and my
dad turned to me and said, “You know, Spencer, what do you want to do with your life? What do you
want to do for a job or profession?” And I turned to him and I said, “Well, you know, I want to get into a
business, a small business, where a Wal-Mart, Cosco, another big box store is not going to beat me up out
of it.” He turned to me and said, “Well, the only business that I know of where you can do that is the
restaurant business.”
Dale Bell: When he suggested he’d like to go into small business I thought it’d be the perfect thing for
him to learn a small business and the difficulties involved in that and be part of the American dream. We
have one neighbor that actually lives on the property that joins our property and his name is Paul Younger
and he’s a beekeeper. Paul initially was the only person who showed up in opposition to our rezoning.
Paul Younger: I opposed it because of the lights and the noise and the smells and traffic and everything
else I thought would be detrimental to our lifestyles here.
Dale Bell: When we were approved (our plan was approved by the County Supervisors) we actually
received a standing ovation.
Paul Younger: When the meeting was over and it became obvious that he was going to get approval, I
asked him to please have some consideration for the neighbors here and he assured me that he would.
Spencer Bell: It was exciting - exciting to finally see the doors open.
Paul Younger: I was really pleasantly surprised. The impact was very minimal and it’s been a
convenience to have him close by.
Dale Bell: When people would walk into the courtyard and see those bonfires and this atmosphere, this
ambience, from all these old wagons and buggies and all the antiques that have been collected here, the
word that most often was mentioned was ‘awesome.’ People would say this is awesome.
11

Drew Carey: Dale and Spencer soon found out, however, that not everyone was excited to see San Tan
Flat open.
Dale Bell: We weren’t breaking any laws but Pinal County apparently decided that they did not like us
and decided that they wanted to put a noise ordinance in, as they did have a neighbor complain about
some of the noise, and they put one of the strictest in the state of Arizona. In fact, the sound of a sewing
machine is louder than we are allowed to be with our country western music venue here.
Paul Younger: Dale called and asked me if the music was too loud, if it was bothering me or anything
else and I really hadn’t even noticed it that much.
Drew Carey: In addition to the noise levels, the County hassled Dale and Spencer about everything,
from the size of their parking lot to the number of signs along the road and the kind of wood they burned
in their fire pits. Dale and Spencer’s efforts to comply cost them more than a hundred thousand dollars
but County officials still weren’t satisfied. They decided to invoke a 60-year-old ordinance.
Dale Spencer: Dancing they said in Pinal County is illegal if it’s done outdoors.
(Music: “There’s an Arizona county where some taverns. . .”)
Drew Carey: Based on the County’s ruling which Dale and Spencer are fighting in court, each day San
Tan Flat patrons are caught dancing, Dale and Spencer must pay a $700.00 fine. Over the course of a
year the fines would total more than two hundred thousand dollars.
Dale Spencer: Well, there’s no logic behind why a government would not want to allow dancing that I
can come up with.
Male Patron 1: I think it’s ridiculous. Dancing is a natural God-given right.
Female Patron 1: Dancing is so much fun.
Female Patron 2: Why stop it?
Female Patron 1: It’s good music. You might as well dance and have fun.
Female Patron 3: All I have to say is, “Look at the crowd.”
Male Patron 2: Dancing is part of life.
Female Patron 4: I think that it is - It’s bad business as far as the County is concerned . . .
(Music)
Dale Spencer: We have - we’ve asked everyone, everyone that we know that might have a clue as to
why Pinal County would attack this family-friendly good business and no one has been able to come up
with a logical explanation.
Paul Younger: Maybe someone is trying to use our County regulations to harass San Tan Flats into
either submission or into some sort of a bankruptcy or financial situation where it has to be put on the
12

market and sold and there are people around here with money that would probably be interested in buying
it at a real cut rate.
Dale Bell: Had it not been for the government’s assault upon this venue, this would’ve been a - just
almost a dream come true for a small businessman because it was met with so much support and praise.
Spencer Bell: Because of this experience I see how government can be so abusive of its power even on a
small local level. It doesn’t have to be federal. Even our Pinal County government is just way overstepping
their bounds.
Dale Bell: They’re going to have to take me on all the way to the Supreme Court of this state and
wherever else we can go beyond that, if necessary, because I don’t believe the government has any right
to tell people they can’t express themselves and they can’t dance. [Music: “liberty . . . “]
Drew Carey: So if you ever find yourself in Arizona on the road between Phoenix and Tucson, swing on
by San Tan Flat. I hear it’s a great place to dance.
For reason.tv, I’m Drew Carey.
(Music: “Yes, everywhere there’s freedom, there’s someone who wants to take it and in Arizona, it’s
Pinal County…)
Banner: Pinal County officials refused to comment on this case and declined our request for an
interview.
13

For reason.tv: National City
Jose Vargas: I got in trouble when I was maybe - when I was maybe 15, 16 years old, I got arrested for
armed robbery with a firearm. I just didn’t know better. I grew up in a family which I thought being in a
gang was being part of being - being - that was the every-day of life. My grandmother was a gang
member. My grandpa was a gang member. I didn’t know better.
Drew Carey: You know, I live in a really nice neighborhood, thankfully, and the people in my
neighborhood, their kids have very good lives, very bright futures, but everyone knows that life is much
harder for kids who grow up in inner cities. They often come from poor, single-parent homes and too
often get involved in gangs and criminal activity. We went down to National City, California and met
some really great people who’ve devoted their lives to helping at-risk kids in their neighborhood.
Victor Nunez: National City is a very nice neighborhood, a lot of single-family homes. We do have a
gang problem and we have problems with drugs as in any other community. The Community Youth
Athletic Center pretty much started out in 1991 in the backyard of Mr. Carlos Barragan, Jr. and Carlos
Barragan, Sr. Pretty soon, we had so many kids that we had to find a bigger building. With the help of
UPS and the Barona Band of Mission Indians, we were able to expand to the facilities that we have now.
We handle about a thousand kids per year and they are all at-risk kids. All these kids are kids that have
been kicked out of various other programs. They come to us. They need a family and we provide them
the family. We provide them the guidance and we provide them the ability to succeed in life.
Jose Vargas: My name is Jose Vargas. I got involved in the gym probably approximately around 1997
after I was - I was released from Rancho del Campo and now I’m applying for the National City Police
Department and hopefully everything goes well. Hopefully next time I talk to you guys I’ve passed and
I’m a police officer.
Victor Nunez: There’re many benefits to the kids that come through here. The biggest benefit is that we
will not see these kids in the prison system or the criminal justice system.
Drew Carey: The CYAC is a great example of ordinary citizens taking responsibility for improving their
community. You’d think city officials would do everything possible to support their efforts but, instead,
the city wants to replace the gym with a swanky high-rise condo. Jeff Rowes is an attorney for the
Institute for Justice, the non-profit public interest law firm that represents the CYAC.
Jeff Rowes: Right here in National City is really one of the most egregious examples of the abuse of
eminent domain that I’ve encountered since I joined the Institute for Justice.
Victor Nunez: What they’re saying is this is what we’re going to do and we want you to cooperate with
us. If not we’re going to eminent domain you and take your property.
Jeff Rowes: Eminent domain, as you might know, is the traditional power of government to take
property for a public use. Really, public use has traditionally, until about the end of the Second World
War, really just meant a public use. In other words, the government could take your property for a road or
a school or a post office or a military base or a public park.
Victor Nunez: If the city was coming in and saying we’re going to build a road here or we’re going to
build something that’s going to benefit everybody, I don’t think we could really fight with it, but what
they’re doing is lining the developer’s pockets and lining their pockets.
14

Drew Carey: Brad Raulston is the Director of Redevelopment in National City, California.
Brad Raulston: There’s two key boundary lines. There’s the redevelopment plan area which is the red
line which was the whole redevelopment area and then there’s the area within that where the agency has
the ability to use eminent domain. Within that footprint of the ability to use eminent domain, as I
understand it, there are six or seven hundred parcels in that area.
Jeff Rowes: The typical eminent domain story is a modest neighborhood or a modest collection of small
businesses that a wealthy developer wants so the developer can transform it into high-rise condominiums
or a big box store.
Brad Raulston: I believe our residents want redevelopment. They want to see their city move forward.
They don’t necessarily engage in the details of that such as eminent domain. I mean, to be honest with
you, I’m not sure that - I’m not sure how many of the residents would - would know what that even
means.
Cesar Andriguez: Yes, my name is Cesar Andriguez. I’m past president for three terms here at the
National City Eagles 2712 and the eminent domain concerns me very deeply because of our roots here in
National City and I think it’s an unjust issue that not is only going on in National City but throughout our
country, of government officials and private developers coming in and just wiping us off the map.
Michael Ramos: Just right from the very core of my heart I think it’s wrong to take away somebody’s
property when they don’t want to sell it.
Michael Ramos: So any time you move, it’s bad thing and this is my street traffic where people - we’re
on Mile of Cars and we’re the closest motorcycle shop to the world’s largest naval base.
Michael Ramos: How many hours of sleep have I already lost? You know, I’ve lost a ton of hour of
sleep. You just sit there. You can’t - what’re you going to do? There’s enough uncertainty in business
anyway and then literally not just pulling the rug out from underneath you but pulling the concrete slab
and the land that you’re working and building on. That makes it tough, you know, so….
Brad Raulston: The benefits of redevelopment are predominantly economic.
Victor Nunez: If all you’re looking at is money and that’s it, I’ll agree with it that they, you know what,
get rid of everybody here, but that’s not what life’s all about. That’s not what this Constitution tells us.
Brad Raulston: The argument against eminent domain is an easy one to make because it’s fundamental
to property rights which are fundamental to the American way, the American dream.
Victor Nunez: As you can see, we have a boxing ring. We teach these kids not to give up, to fight for
what they believe in.
Drew Carey: On June 19 th , 2007, the CYAC held a public rally to protest the City’s plans.
Jeff Rowes: The government should not be taking your hard-earned property and your American dream
to give to rich people to build condos for other rich people.
Crowd: Yeah! (Applause)
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Jeff Rowes: National City often talks about blight. They say that everyone here is blighted. They have
two-thirds of the city under a blight designation and it’s been like that for almost 40 years. Take a look
around. You people are Americans.
Crowd: Yeah! Yeah!
Jeff Rowes: You’re not blight.
Crowd: Yeah, right. (Applause) Save our gym. Save our gym. . . .
Male Resident 1: I think it’s a shame what the city’s trying to do our gym. They’re trying to take it
away from us. A lot of people have a lot of, you know, hope and dreams when they come to the gym, you
know, to get through their everyday lives and, you know, it’s a shame that the city’s going to try to take
that away from us, you know.
Male Resident 2: That’s my home right there, you know. You know, I’ve started at 8-years old. For
them to take it away, it seems pretty - it’s pretty tough.
Crowd: Save our gym. Yeah! Yeah! Whooo—
Drew Carey: Following the rally the City Council held a public hearing regarding their redevelopment
plans.
Developer Spokesperson: We hope to be concluded by next March and now we’re ready to move
forward on some of the remaining portions, including Chula Vista National City and, of course…
Victor Nuner: That last hearing that we had here, one of the kids came before you and told you, “I was
the one that was tagging your places. I was the one that was breaking into your homes and so forth, but
because of CYAC, I changed my life.”
Male Supporter 1: You can bring in an incredible beautiful condo tower with lots of tax money but it’s
not going to do the same amount of good that we’re doing. Just consider that. Have open minds. Take a
leap of faith, okay? Just, please, keep supporting us. Do the right thing. Save our gym. Thank you very
much. [Applause]
Male Support 2: When it’s all said and done, Your Honor, we’re not going to move. We’re going to
stay here. (Applause) We’re going to stay in the location we are right now. (Applause) because our
home…. (Applause)
Ron Morrison (Mayor): I understand what you’re saying, but I think the impression is being given out
there that we’re trying to kick the kids out and you know this by using children in abundance your get
these 2 things, and you get a lot of sympathy and you get cameras when you do that and there’s been I
think a lot of approach to go out there and try to sensationalize this as if the city was doing something bad
to you and I’m here to state for everyone, right here and now, that is really a bad rap that some
irresponsible organization is trying to give the city because we have worked diligently and we will
continue to work diligently to find a good location.
Drew Carey: On July 17 th , 2007, the National City Council voted to move forward with their plan to
redevelop the city using eminent domain.
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Brad Raulston: We had a Council person last night who sort of spoke to eminent domain being a tool
and that he equated it to being sort of like a police officer’s gun, that’s best when never used, but needed
in order to sort of keep the peace.
Jeff Rowes: The threat of eminent domain is like having a gun put to your head when you’re negotiating
the sale of your home. It’s just not a negotiation at all. People just don’t have a choice when eminent
domain is on the table.
Victor Nuner: Our whole focus has been the kids. We are not going to quit and we’re not going to let
them down. They know that we are a family and this time we will take care of them. They may not have
a both mother and father at home, but we are here for them. We are their family.
Drew Carey: For reason.tv, I’m Drew Carey.
Banner: In late August, in the face of intense public apposition, the developer of the condo project
announced that he would revise his plans and build around the Community Youth Athletic Center. So the
gym remains, for now. Unfortunately, the promise to keep the gym safe from bulldozers is not legally
binding and the site still can be condemned by the city at any moment. Indeed, National City’s leaders
recently again declared the entire area “blighted” and gave the city the power to seize the gym for private
developers at any time up until 2017. The community Youth Athletic Center has filed suit in California
Superior Court challenging the city’s blight declaration against the gym and nearly 700 other properties.
For a list of additional resources to use with this video go to
www.izzit.org/products and click on the The Drew Carey Project, Volume 1 video.
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