Call It What You Will Salinas: Recent Episodes
Call It What You Will Regulars
A Salinas podcast group that interviews and discusses Central Coast politics and issues with residents and community groups.
This week we are lucky enough to sit down once again with organizers from Ciclovía Salinas. This event that originated in Bogotá, Colombia promotes the opening of streets for community residents to enjoy recreational events that promote a healthy body and mind. The Ciclovía Salinas event is the only one organized and led by students each year! Listen in to this episode and hear how over a mile long stretch of Alisal Street is opened up and organized by local students for our community to enjoy.
This week we talk deliciousness with Orlando from Tortas al 100. How does one keep their tortas 100 in a town where good food isn't hard to find? Listen in and find out the care Orlando puts in to making sure the food is straight grub status and the ingredients are always Sunday dinner quality. Take a listen, go try a torta, and let us know what you think as you Call It What You Will Salinas.
This week an appeals court ruling by a normally liberal court stated that the 2nd amendment did allow for the open carry of firearms. This set some thoughts off as you will hear in this week's episode. Gun culture surrounded us growing up in the 80s, from tv to video games. As we got older the nature of that culture evolved to include not just the imaginary, but the real. It seems like everyday there is another headline about a shooting involving people from all walks of life. And so we ask ourselves, who gets to carry and who doesn't because while a court may say yes, the headlines show a different story.
Listen in and let us know what you think as you Call It What You Will Salinas!
After a long break, we jump back into the craziness that has become our world. Hear about a local GOP meeting being moved to parts unknown, a right wing youth group starts up with all the things you would expect, a commodore, a Costco food court, and of course a really cool Purple Rain font. Taking a break from the absurdity of it all, a little summer time reading is discussed as well as Dom officially declaring his summertime album. Listen in to all this and more as we Call It What You Will Salinas!
It's been a minute, but back with a new episode! Dom sits down to talk with Alejandro Chavez, Soledad City Councilmember. Councilmember Chavez was the past chair of the Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC) and was cool enough to sit down and talk about Measure X and how funds could be more equitably distributed in Monterey County, especially in South Monterey County.
This episode we hear from Dr. Asif Mahmood, candidate for Lt. Governor of California. Dr. Mahmood is a pulmonologist and doctor of internal medicine that practices in the Los Angeles area. Hear why Dr. Mahmood is running for statewide office and why he feels he can be a candidate for change. There are many races that will be on the ballot in 2018, and the Lt. Governor's race will be an important one. The Lt. Governor sits on the UC Board of Regents and the CSU Board of Trustees. The Lt. Governor also serves on the State Lands Commission and is on the Agriculture-Water Transition Task Force. Whomever you vote for, make sure you find out how the candidate you choose stands on the issues you care about. Listen in to hear more about where Dr. Mahmood stands on issues such as education, the environment, health care, and the economy of California.
This episode we speak with Professor Michele Dauber from the Recall Judge Aaron Persky campaign. Why would a group be working to recall a judge? Many of you have probably heard of the infamous Brock Turner case that took place in Santa Clara County. Brock Turner was convicted on three counts of felony sexual assault. Judge Persky sentenced Turner to a 6 month sentence of which, Turner served only 3. Normally, a 2 year sentence would be deemed the normal sentence for this crime, but a judge does have leeway to reduce the sentence based on a defendant's lack of criminal history and the effect of the incarceration. However, as you will hear in this episode, Judge Persky has a pattern of being lenient on defendants in sexual assault cases and even in a case involving child pornography. Community members came together to form a campaign to recall Judge Persky before his next election in 2022.
It is important to note that a recall vote does not remove a candidate from office, it is simply moving up the election date sooner. This recall effort will require 90,000 signatures in 160 days, but as you will hear, there is an amazing group of volunteers willing to get the work done.
Domestic violence is a problem that plagues too many communities and can often be a difficult topic to even bring up. October is domestic violence month, so we sat down with Lideres Campesinas in Greenfield to talk about the wonderful work they do to help out women that have been the victims of domestic violence and what they do to support them. It can especially be a problem in a community facing additional issues such as someone being undocumented, cultural norms, or economic issues that can all hold someone back from speaking out. Hear from Sorangel and Audelia on what they do to be supportive of women in their community.
This episode we speak to local artist, Willow Aray. Monarch butterflies have come to show support for immigrants and Willow painted a mural of a butterfly to encourage people to take their picture with it and show their support for immigrants. In this episode, hear how one person has used her talents to create something good for the community to share in.
We spoke to local Hip-Hop artist, Alaric, a few months ago on the show. He spoke about his upcoming project that he was working on and he was cool enough to come on and share with us the entire album, Unheard Talent. Released to Soundcloud on Friday the 13th, you can check it out by searching for Alaric_QP. We sit down in this episode and talk about what it took to get this album made as well as discussing each track and how they came together. Anyone can drop a track on Soundcloud, but Alaric put in work to make sure that his album was something to be appreciated. Listen in and see what goes in to the making of an album!
This episode, Dom gets to speak with Nurses and Community Members that were out in Watsonville to gather signatures in support of SB562. SB562 is a bill that would provide healthcare to all Californians. All across California, community activists were speaking to others in their community to rally support for this important bill that provides a more affordable healthcare option for all!
What goes into a city budget? What are the priorities that are considered in that budget, how long does a budget take to write, and how many people need to be spoken to before a budget can be presented? These aren't questions that we can just google and find the answers to easily, so this week Dom speaks to Matt Pressey, Salinas Finance Director. Listen in to this episode and learn more about the way our city pays its bills and what the challenges are for Salinas to budget accurately from year to year. Feel free to let us know what you think after as you Call It What You Will Salinas!
Around the world Ciclovìa festivals are held. Streets are closed for pedestrians and bicyclists to have free reign to travel. Booths and activities are set up for the community to take part in. What makes Salinas Ciclovìa unique, is that our local festival is completely youth organized. If you have gone an marveled at the organization of the event, know that these young leaders start their planning early and put on what has become a great yearly event. Listen in to this episode and hear how these young community members became leaders and learned how to collaborate in putting on a wonderful event for Salinas!
How hard do you have to look sometimes to see yourself on the tv screen, on the theater screen, or even on a stage at a play? This week we speak with xago, a longtime Salinas resident that has been active in the arts in our community. Currently, he is teaching a teatro class at the Monterey County Youth Center to work with talented youth, to better develop their skills and voices. We talk about the time xago spent at Teatro Campesino, a landmark theater group in nearby San Juan Batista. xago speaks about the many projects that he has been involved in and that are to come. Listen in and find out more about some great projects that you can see!
Understaffed and overworked, members of the Salinas Fire Department are on pace to answer 14-15,000 calls this year. Salinas is home to 76 firefighters at the taping of this episode and there is room for at least 9 more. Being understaffed by 9 firefighters may not sound like a lot, but realize that Salinas Firefighters are sent to help in emergencies such as Hurricane Irma and wildfires here in California. That puts on extra pressure for the firefighters here in town to pick up extra shifts week after week. This week it's an honor to sit down with Josh Hostetter, President of the Salinas Firefighters Local 1270, and Martin Flores, Salinas born firefighter on 9/11.
On September 4th, 2017, a Labor Day Rally and March was held in Watsonville. Union members and allies from Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties gathered across the street from the Plaza to raise awareness on the threat that Labor is facing and to share information and food as people gathered. Take a listen and hear from Labor members, allies, and elected officials on what makes Labor Day special in our community!
This episode, Dom sits down with Marcos Cabrera from the Monterey County Youth Media Project. This was a 2 week course that local students could participate in to learn from industry professionals on how to become better journalists. This free program for high school and college students brought in veteran journalists that were able to work with students on taking their journalism skills to a higher level. This program was modeled on the Mosaic High School Journalism Workshop that was founded by San Jose Mercury reporter, Joe Rodriguez, in 1993. One of the first graduates was Marcos Cabrera and now he and others are sharing what they know with young journalists from our community. This episode takes us not only into the program the participated in, but also the work Marcos has done as a reporter and as an active member of the local arts, such as Baktun 12. Dom tries not to go off on tangents, but Marcos brings a diverse experience to the mic, so that there were a lot of interesting conversational roads to go down when talking to Marcos. Listen in and Call It What You Will Salinas!
It has been a long week as we witnessed the events of Charlottesville and the aftermath to follow. This episode we just gather around the table to talk about all that happened in Charlottesville and the demonstration that was held to stand against hate in Salinas. Our discussion draws in friend of the show, Gabby, who gives us her perspective on racism and privilege. Through the twists and turns of our conversation, we somehow make it to South Korea as the show checks in with Dom's buddy Phil. We speak to Phil about being a Canadian abroad in South Korea. This week has been a long week so we just jump on the mic and share our thoughts for you to Call It What You Will Salinas.
Community organization, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) partnered with groups such as SEIU, NAACP, UFW Foundation, and STAND to come together and rally against racism in Salinas on the corner of Boronda and North Main Street. It was a peaceful demonstration that saw many people honk their support for the message of unity and love that the demonstrators represented. There was a diverse crowd of community members, activists, and elected officials that stood up and said hate would not be accepted here in Salinas.
This episode finds Dom hanging out with Rob from the MASA for the RAZA podcast and Big Mike from the GTFOH podcast, both here in Salinas. Both were cool to come by on short notice and just kick it in the booth as we talked about food spots, growing up in Salinas, new vs old Hip Hop, and everything in between. There are a lot of different shows that record in Salinas now and it was cool just to kick it with a couple of the other shows and compare notes at the table.
We head over to a rally organized by Marina Planning Commissioner Adam Urrutia to protest the hateful event that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia. This protest that was organized just the night before, brought together about 100 people from all over the Central Coast that wanted to stand together to denounce the hateful march seen by many on tv and social media. Community members and elected officials were at the corner of Del Monte and Reservation from 10am-12pm in Marina. It was a peaceful protest with many passing cars honking their support.
This episode we talk to Mike and Jeff from Mike PZ and the Associates, a local band that plays here on the Central Coast. There is a lot that this episode touches on as it was an interesting conversation that we had with Mike and Jeff. We talk not only about the sound you can expect from Mike PZ and the Associates, but also all the sounds that we grew up and listen to from the Bakersfield Sound to Old School and Piedmont Blues. The conversation just kept moving as through the 2 hours we spoke we hit on what goes into a show, places they have played, and dealing with audiences that are good and bad. This is a great episode to listen to if you want to hear about a group that just loves playing music. To learn more about the band check them out on social media at:
www.reverbnation.com/mikepzandtheassociates
www.facebook.com/mikepzliveanddirect
Go on youtube and search Mike PZ and the Associates
Listen to a fun time with two musicians that love what they do and let us know what you think as you Call It What You Will Salinas!
Open up the episode and hear a spoken word piece entitled "Incarcerated Introspection," by Alaric, a local artist from the 831. Listen in and hear how that piece developed and how Alaric went from writing poetry in notebooks to developing his talent further and becoming an artist recording over tracks. Salinas doesn't offer many opportunities for local hip hop artists, but Alaric was one of the many that brought it at the recent Speakeasy show here at the XL Publichouse. Alaric shares how he's developed his talent and the work it takes to get his music out to the public. Hear 2 tracks during the show, Believin and Black Roses, they will be on his upcoming project release Unheard Talent. Talent grows in the 831 so take a listen and Call It What You Will Salinas.
This week our show starts off at Jesse G. Sanchez Elementary school where the Alisal Union School Board met to discuss school resource officers (SROs) being on Alisal campuses. We spoke to Israel Villa of MILPA, Salinas Police Chief Adele Fresè, and community members about their thoughts on having SROs on Alisal campuses. The issues of SROs has been in the news a lot recently as it was turned down at the Salinas Union High School District and the Police Department has until the end of August to use this grant for SROs or it will expire.
Our episode shifts over to the XL Publichouse where Rafael and Dom continue the discussion on SROs. The conversation moves to cover other topics such as a recent workshop Rafael attended on non-profits working with immigrants, we touched on the sad news of those who were found dead in a trailer in San Antonio when they tried to enter the country. Dom explains why he still hasn't seen 13th on Netflix even though he knows he should have, hear talk on the recent Trump rant and ban of transgender soldiers, and we end on a positive note as we talk about the film "Dolores" a documentary on the life of Dolores Huerta coming to Salinas in September.
This week we talk to Miguel Lozoya Burciaga from Digital Nest, to catch up on how the summer youth program has progressed. Hear about the various tech sites that students have been able to visit and the connections students have been able to make with people in the digital field. Also, hear about what Digital Nest is working to do to increase the number of women in the tech industry by working to recruit more women for their student program. Miguel also shares what future classes Salinas youth can sign up for with Digital Nest this fall and in the future. As always, Miguel brings a wealth of information to share with Call It What You Will Salinas!
This episode is recorded on the road as Dom travels with local community group, Safe Ag Safe Schools (SASS), to Sacramento to join organizations from all over California to call for the ban of the pesticide, chlorpyrifos. Chlorpyrifos was on the brink of being banned across the United States by the EPA under the Obama Administration. However, with the new administration in power, the use of chlorpyrifos is still being allowed. Hear from SASS organizer Lucia Calderon, co-director Mark Weller, and many of the local activists that came from Salinas, Watsonville, Greenfield, and Santa Cruz to join a demonstration of 250+ people in our state capital. Listen in and learn about a group that is working to make our local community safer.
Finally, this week we bring a little bit of balance back to the show as we have local resident, Nenneya, join us in a discussion. Our talk ranges from the new 2pac film to the audacity of an outgoing Congressman introducing a bill to give housing stipends to members of Congress. On a more serious note, we discuss that most loaded of words in the English language and share our different perspectives on it and it's use in today's society. It's another week of Call It What You Will here in Salinas!
This week we opened with the always talented Jota Effectus sharing us some of his recent work and filling us in on some of the open mic and other performances that will be going down in Watsonville soon. We bump into Joey Martinez and local photographer, Dred, as they share some details on a upcoming African performance that will take place in Salinas. We get an update from Wes White on what has been going on in Chinatown and how people can get involved or help down there. Lastly, it gets heavy as we sit around the table sharing our thoughts on the death of Philando Castile.
Platicamos con Miguel Lozoya Burciaga de Digital NEST (el Nido Digital), una organización super innovador que prepara a nuestros jóvenes para el trabajo del futuro y acaba de instalar una rama en Salinas!
Viajamos por décadas de aventura, desarrollo, estudio, romance, y lucha por derechos civiles con nuestro invitado Enrique Mendez Flores, fundador de la organización Aguila aquí en Salinas.
Digital Nest is a great program that originated in Watsonville and has expanded to Salinas. This program connects young people in our community with not only technology such as computers and wi-fi, but free classes to learn how to build and design websites, graphic arts, music and video production. In addition, Digital Nest works to connect those that have learned new skills in technology with companies where they can intern and further develop their skills. Listen in and learn all about this amazing program as we speak to Miguel Lozoya Burciaga from the Digital Nest at Cesar Chavez library in Salinas.
This episode, Dom hits the road to catch the new local baseball squad, the Monterey Amberjacks. The Amberjacks are in the independent Pecos Baseball League. Made up of 12 teams, the Amberjacks join Bakersfield, Tucson, California City, High Desert, and Hollywood in the Pacific Division. The Monterey Amberjacks will be calling Sollecito Field home on most weekends from now until the end of July so come out and catch a great game for an affordable $10 ticket. If you don't want to drive to Monterey then you can catch the Amberjacks in Hollister on Mondays at Veterans Memorial Park if they're closer to home for you. The team even has Monday morning camps for youth in Hollister from 9am-12pm. Registration is $35 to get your youngster some tips from the pros on how to become a better ballplayer.
It's always great to catch a game in the summertime and the Amberjacks are a solid team to watch on weekends at Sollecito Park!
This week we got to speak with longtime activist, Enrique Mendez Flores. Enrique takes us through some of his journeys from San Diego, Mexico, Oregon, San Jose, and right here in Salinas to share some of the wisdom he picked up along the way.
Una platica con Rene y Luis de la organización innovadora MILPA que fomenta liderazgo entre nuestros jóvenes y extiende su hermandad y apoyo a nuestros hermanos y hermanas en las prisiones.
How often when you sat in a classroom did you ever see yourself in a history book? It is true that there is a vastness to history because of the thousands of years of civilization and the countless events within those years and yet, how often could you open a book and find something that speaks to you? This week we speak to MILPA. (Motivating Individual Leadership for Public Advancement) This group looks to build members of our community to succeed in the future by connecting them to their past. By being grounded in where we have come from, it can be easier to move forward. Speaking to Rene Casas and Louie Gutierrez, we hear about how MILPA has worked in our community on the issues of leadership, prison reform, and reconnecting with cultural roots. This week is a lot on how a program that looks to be successful not just today, but 7 generations down the line in order to build a lasting change in our community.
Once again, we are treated to the performances from local artists at the Hartnell Throwdown Session. This is an event that allows students and members of the community to showcase their talents in spoken word, hip-hop, singing, and public speaking at the Hartnell Campus. These open mic events are the result of the hard work of students at Hartnell to organize and put on this event. Talent takes time and it takes a place to train and grow. This is an opportunity for many of us to see those that already have put in a lot of effort towards their art and are ready to share it with the public to enjoy. Enjoy the show and come out this fall when school is back in and we can look forward to another Hartnell Throwdown Session!
Nuestros amigos de Meals on Wheels De Slinas nos explican de que se trata el programa. No solamente para la gente de la tercer edad, pero también aprendemos sobre algo especial que también trae comida a las mascotas (perros, gatos y asta pericos). "Meals on Wheels" llego a estar en el noticiero nacional cuando la administración de presidente Donald Trump cuestionó la validez y el valor de éste programa tan esencial para la comunidad. Pues entonces lo tomamos como tarea buscar a representantes de el programa y aprender sobre el maravilloso trabajo que hacen este grupo de trabajadores y voluntarios para la comunidad.
We get our eyes opened to the amazing service that Meals on Wheels of the Salinas Valley provides here in our community. Not stopping at delivering meals, we also hear of a great partnership that allows for this Meals on Wheels chapter to deliver meals for pet dogs, cats, and birds as well. Meals on Wheels made headlines nationally when this essential program had their community value questioned by a member of the Trump Administration. So we reached out to hear it from the group itself and learned about the wonderful work this group of staff and volunteers does to serve our community.
After a great conversation with Magnolia Zarraga, a local immigration attorney, we tried to keep the convo going amongst ourselves, but we inevitably got off topic. These random episodes are a chance for the Call It What You Will crew to just sit back and talk over beers about the events of the day and whatever may bubble out of our thoughts. Coast along with the conversation as we go from the serious to the philosophical, to the shocking announcement that one of us feels Attack of the Clones was a great Star Wars movie.
Magnolia Zarraga, abogada de inmigracion, nos visita hoy en el podcast y nos platica sobre muchos temas importantes acerca de la cuestion de documentacion incluyedo: la ciudadania; deportacion; que hacer si una se encuentra con un agente de ICE; que es lo que nunca se debe de hacer si se encuentra con un agente; como protegerse; recursos de asistencia; y mucho mas.
What can you say about the first 100 days of this era we call Trump. Dom, Rafael, and Alex try to wrap their heads around what these first 100 days of been and like the Trump Administration it comes out scattered. How does one speak cohesively about that which has little cohesion? This episode ends up being a mixed bag of reactions to what has been a very unnerving start to the Trump era.
Salinas is far from an affordable place to live and a big reason why is we have more people crammed into a city that doesn't have enough housing to hold everyone. Getting housing built, especially affordable housing, is never easy and so this week we speak to Matt Huerta, Salinas City Planning Commission member. Matt has long been involved in the process of building affordable housing going back to his days as the first Latino ASB President at UC Davis. This week is a longer interview because there is a lot to learn. Listen to Matt's experiences organizing at Davis as he becomes a student leader and begins his career studying, organizing, and implementing affordable housing from Silicon Valley to Salinas.
El arte callejero de artista Joey Martinez nos abre otras dimensiones del universo donde viajamos por galaxias y agujeros negros en universos infinitos que existen en una célula... Se atreven viajar con nosotros?
Art is meant to provoke conversation and that is certainly the case this week as we sit down with local artist, Joey Martinez. For those of you that attended the recent Cesar Chavez March, you probably noticed his larger than life sculpture, "La Aguila Negra," that was on loan to the march from Oasis School. The conversation wanders from the real to surreal to stuff that Dom has no real understanding of, but Rafael and Joey are able to fill in the blanks. Art is not meant for agreement, but debate and conversation that leads to a better understanding of the world around you. We hope this episode plays a small part of that understanding.
As always, help a podcast out and like our page and share our episode to help this little endeavor grow here in the 831!
Right off the bat, Rafael regrets letting his friends know to tune in the show as this week we have no guest. And when we have no guest, well...things tend to be a bit loose and more profane, rather than profound. That being said, the entire crew, Dom, Walter, Raj, and Rafael spend an hour wandering from topics of food from here in Salinas and around the world.
It gets waste deep as Dom, Walter, and Raj somehow get very little discussion done about the latest national news. These three haven't been together on an episode in a while so in a scene reminiscent of the GOP primaries, we go after each other. During the show there is a 15 seconds of silence to reenact a stunning chess victory at XL Publichouse last week. Join us this week as you listen to our show blow off some steam.
Our 50th episode! This week we speak to an amazing group of young journalists in training from Radio Bilingue, KHDC, 90.9FM. This group made up of students from local High Schools and even a Middle School can be heard live on the air every Monday from 4-6pm. Their program is called Alza Tu Voz / Speak Out and is a chance for bilingual students from our community to be heard by a larger audience. As part of the KHDC Salinas Youth Radio Training Program, they put on a show that is a mix of talk radio and music requests. With guidance from KHDC's own Chui Ramirez, the young journalists research and discuss the issues and concerns from our community that they want to bring on air. Be sure to catch the show every week and if you want to get in a music request, call the request line at 831-758-5432
If you want to apply to be a part of this program go to:
http://radiobilingue.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/salinas_youth_radio_app.pdf
En este episodio hablamos con miembro del consejo (presidencia municipal) Tony Barrera y aprendimos de su vida como un mexicano, un estado unidense, un miembro de la comunidad, un hombre de familia, un politico, hijo, padre, y finalmente, como un ser humano. En esta conversación viajamos con el por aventuras desde Sinaloa a San Pancho hasta que eventualmente cae en Salinas. Seguimos su vida entre pueblos fronterizos de Mexico-EU, y analizamos la frontera que suele existir entre Chicanos nacidos en el EU e inmigrantes nacidos en Mexico.
In this episode we speak with City Councilmember, Tony Barrera, and learn about his life as a Mexicano, an American, a community member, a family man, a city councilmember, a son, a father, and ultimately, as a person. He takes us through adventures from Sinaloa to San Francisco, until he eventually makes it to Salinas. We follow his life through US-Mexico border towns and analyze the border between US born Chicanos and Mexican born immigrants. Through it all, his integrity about paying it forward and humility about positions of status and power tie it all together and bring us a message of community engagement and helping your neighbor.
A special episode during the week as Dom sits down at the Brickhouse to speak with Delaine Eastin, candidate for California Governor in 2018. Dom does his best to keep up with the gubernatorial candidate as she gives us her thoughts on the wide range of issues that California faces. As a former Assembly member and only woman to be elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction in California, Delaine Eastin has a wide background of knowledge that you will hear in this episode. Education is a topic you will hear about early and often in this episode as well as issues ranging from infrastructure spending, cannabis, and environmental protection. Before Donald Trump, California had Pete Wilson, and Delaine Eastin was kind enough to give us some extra time to share how she stood against former Governor Pete Wilson and proposition 187 in the 1990s. Enjoy this special episode with California Gubernatorial Candidate, Delaine Eastin.
For more information on her candidacy, visit:
Web: http://www.delaineforgovernor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DelaineEastinPublic/
Twitter: @DelaineEastin
Also, we want to mention that there is a t-shirt design contest for the Delaine Eastin campaign.
Visit http://www.delaineforgovernor.com/t_shirt_design_contest to submit a design!
En estos tiempos, reunirse es más importante que nunca. Mientras nuestros derechos vienen bajo ataque es importante tener eventos donde podemos permanecer unidos y representar la unidad de nuestra comunidad. Por décadas el UFW ha representado la lucha que trabajadores han experimentado para ganar la igualdad equivalente al trabajo que hacen. El 2 de abril nos juntaremos para honrar el legado de un gran hombre que creo en la no violencia, la dignidad de un día honesto de trabajo y el poder de una comunidad unida. El 2 de abril vengan al parque Cesar Chavez para estar juntos como una comunidad para honrar el legado no solo de Cesar Chavez, pero de todos que han laborado para construir nuestra comunidad. Es tiempo para paz, solidaridad y activismo.
En esta edición hablamos con Juan Martinez del Community Choice Energy Project. Es una conversación super iluminadora en la cual nos damos cuenta que podemos tener mas agencia y ahorros sobre la como conseguimos la electricidad que compramos con pagos mensuales. Normalmente uno piensa que tiene que pagarle a la compañía de electricidad - PG&E - para tener luz, y que tenemos que estar conformes con lo que nos cobren por la luz. Si no nos gusta el precio del la electricidad, pues ni modo. Bueno, parece que si hay otro modo en esta situación. Hay una nueva manera en la que podremos conseguir electricidad en nuestro condado, y no solo sera mas barato, no solo sera mejor para el ambiente, pero hasta habra oportunidad de ganar dinero en este nuevo modelo de negocio comunitario acerca de la electricidad. Escuche esta conversación donde Juan Martinez le da luz a una nueva manera de conseguir la luz en un futuro no tan lejano
A quick episode of Call It What You Will as we get information on the upcoming march in honor of Cesar Chavez on April 2nd, 10am, starting at Cesar Chavez park. We speak to Lauro Barajas of the UFW and hear what we have to look forward to at this years march. If you want more info then check out the event page on Facebook and we hope to see you out there!
https://www.facebook.com/events/390751367949240/
This week we speak with Juan Martinez about the Monterey Bay Community Power project. This project looks to give local consumers the option to choose renewable energy to provide their electricity needs. This was not a simple matter and required the work of many in local government, community groups, and the input of community members to make this project a reality. This project could allow the reinvestment of profits earned to be put back into the project to allow the building of more renewable energy projects, thereby reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. Juan has been a long time activist in our area and was kind enough to come on the show and tell us how he and others from the Romero Institute are involved in making this project a reality.
En este episodio platicamos con el pintor Rafael Estrada y exploramos lo que es dibujar, y la diferencia entre el pintor y el “artista” en la sociedad. También le entramos a temas sobre la política, la vigilancia del gobierno, el sistema educativo, y las cultura mexicana, estado-unidense, y todos puntos entre medio.
This week we speak to three talented artists, Bridget Spicer, Rafael Estrada, and Alex Schumacher. All three were kind enough to lend their talents to a benefit to raise money for the local chapter of the ACLU a few weeks back. We talk to all three about the role the current political climate has had on their art. We touch on the relevance of graphic novels and the respect they have for a few in particular and how the cartoon medium does not get the same respect it does in other countries. Find out if there are Easter eggs lurking in their work and their varying opinions on the work being done by indy artists today. Dom and Walter find themselves a bit afraid to play an indy developed game that puts you in quite an uncomfortable role. It's a drawn out episode as this week we speak to these local artists.
Like our page and share our episode if you enjoy it!
A little bit of everything this week as our episode touches on the recent Salinas City Council vote to sue the Trump Administration. The regulars introduce a new development for Call It What You Will, we will now be doing Spanish episodes as well! Rafael Hernandez is joining our show as a host on both the English and Spanish side of our episodes, our thanks to him for bringing his own unique perspective to this program.
The show finishes up with comments from those that attended the Salinas City Council meeting on March 7th, 2017. We apologize for not having more comments, but Dom got distracted by the amazing turnout and just ended up enjoying seeing the community come out in force to make their voice heard.
Una charla informativa, provocativa, e inspiradora con Ramiro De La Garma del Programa de Educación de Inmigrantes. En esta conversación con Ramiro analizamos la situación en que se encuentran los inmigrantes latinos en el condado de Monterey por el lente histórico, politico, sociológico, y moral.
Our most ambitious recording to date, this episode we head out to Hartnell to talk to performers and record the Hartnell Throwdown Session. The Sociology Club and MeChA were kind enough to invite us and our thanks to all the performers for making this possible and letting us record. Listen in to catch local talent perform spoken-word, hip-hop, poetry, instrumentals, and one guy was even brave enough to throw down a bit of stand-up comedy. This being our first time trying an ambitious project of recording live performances, we did have some issues with the sound quality a little over half way through the performance. Look for us to put in some work with the DJ to get those issues fixed so that when the Throwdown Session comes back strong in May, we will have the whole show sounding lovely for all y'all.
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This week we have no guest so new dude on the block, Brian, joins Dom and Walter for a talk on last nights speech by Trump to the Congress. We wanted to bring some balance to the show so we figure why not add a fiscal conservative to the mix. The conversation starts off with the speech and gets an assist from Walter who functioned as our research and fact checking dept. Couchgate comes up with the crews opinion on whether or not Kellyanne Conway desecrated the Oval Office by putting her feet up on the couch, you probably will be surprised on where everyone ended up on that argument. And as a special treat for everyone, we had a completely unscripted, unresearched, unprepared conversation on state and city spending with a special emphasis on the effects of retirement benefits that city employees receive. We are sure you will be riveted to hear it all as we share this weeks episode of Call It What You Will!
Like our page and share our episode. We are trying to build ourselves up to be credentialed for the White House Press Briefing and immediately be banned from it.
Out of respect for those that perished in the Sweden attacks, we did not have a guest this week. We worked through our grief throughout the show as we discussed the tragedy in Sweden, Bowling Green, and the latest tragedy, deporting everyone to Mexico whether they came from there or not. Hear what we would do if we had access to Trump's twitter feed and could send out 10 tweets. Dom shares his quest for mostaccioli in Little Italy during his recent trip to New York. By the end of the show we moved past our grief for Sweden and were ready to take what comes next in this world.
It's another episode of Call It What You Will and this week we have on a talented artist! Listen in as we speak to local rapper, Jota Effectus. We talk about the journey he has taken to get to this point and how it affects his craft. Hear about the influences he had that you can hear as he shares a track and a freestyle at the end. We hear about an artist trying to keep his art personal and the difficulties being real can bring. Check out this episode to hear a talented local artist.
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A large immigration forum took place at Hartnell College and Dom was there to get reactions from attendees as well as speak to elected officials about this important subject. This episode starts off with a few questions being answered by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and Congressman Jimmy Panetta. Throughout the episode you can listen in to a wide range of peoples' thoughts on the event as it occurs. Our thanks to all those that attended and took the time to speak to our show. And thanks to Supervisor Robert Rivas, Salinas Police Chief Adele Fresé, Hartnell Trustee and forum moderator Erica Padilla-Chavez, immigration attorney and forum speaker Michael Mehr for taking the time to give their thoughts on the event and the immigration issues that have been much discussed in our community. Shout out to the young reporters from Radio Bilingue, KHDC, who were out reporting on their first event!
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This week we speak to local activist, Nashwan Hamza. Dom and Walter have a conversation with Nashwan his experiences as a Muslim-American and what it means to be a Muslim. Nashwan answers our many questions as we admittedly are not very knowledgable of Islam. We discuss some of the more well known traditions such as Ramadan, the Hajj, and the how the cultural differences within a country are reflected in Islam. Dom admits his long confusion with how does one properly respond to or greet a Muslim in Arabic. This episode was a fun conversation with Nashwan and we look forward to this being the first of many conversations on Islam and Muslim-Americans.
Listen in to an informative discussion on the challenges Salinas faces keeping pedestrians safe. Many know about the crimes that occur, but Salinas also has a high rate of pedestrians killed in collisions. MacGregor Eddy, whose local column, "We Could Car Less," joined the show along with Steve Kennedy, recent member of the Salinas Traffic and Transportation Commission. They inform us on the reasons for too many deaths that have occurred and what are some remedies to make our roads and sidewalks safer for pedestrians and vehicles. Steve fills us in on the issues the Traffic Commission would address and the need for community involvement to make sure that problems are not overlooked. There is a lot to hear about this episode, listen in and find out ways to be safer out there on the road when driving and on the sidewalk when you're out for a stroll.
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Hundreds came out to Window on the Bay in Monterey to show their support for the Muslim-American community and protest the Muslim immigration ban. The event, organized by local groups, Monterey County Nonviolent Action Committee and Solidarity Against Hate. Listen in to what people have to say at this show of solidarity in our community. We speak to people young and old, and hear what they have to say about the hatred Muslim-Americans are facing in their community. We ran into State Senator Bill Monning and we get his thoughts on the importance of contacting your elected officials to make your views heard. As always, this is a learning experience and we battled the wind that affected the quality of the audio. We have wind socks on order to help alleviate this problem the next time we are out in the community.
This week we speak to Jose Castaneda, former Alisal School Board Member, and City Council member. We spent a lot of time talking about education with Jose and his views on what has worked and not worked here in Salinas. As a former school board member, Jose gives us his perspective on why it is important for parents to get involved with school site councils and other ways parents or members of the community can get involved in education. We also spoke about the need for campaign finance reform and why Jose did little fundraising for his City Council campaigns. Jose gives us his opinion on why it was so important to state for the record his concerns when on the council and why it is important that people not become tired in the movement to improve Salinas.
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The Monterey Bay Indivisible group is one of many Indivisible groups that have been formed recently on the Central Coast as a means for people to actively become involved in politics. With all the recent events of the Trump Administration, many people have been moved to get involved and this meeting saw many come out to get involved. Dom came out to the meeting to speak to people that came out the meeting to find out what specifically made them want to get involved. The episode opens with one of the event organizers, Gary Karnes, speaking briefly on the purpose of this group. Listen in and hear why people are standing up and we even recorded the first 20 minutes of the meeting until a forgetful Dom forgot to hit the pause button to start the recording again. Catch what people think as the event came to an end and don't forget to like our page and share our episode if you enjoy it!
We talk again with Monterey County NORML. Ryan Munevar and Joey Espinoza are back to educate us further on the work that NORML does here at home. Dom recently attended a meeting that was held by NORML and was completely blown away by the level of science, technology, and diversity of people that are coming together as cannabis has been legalized. This group is nothing like the stereotypical image of a bunch of stoners that just want to get baked and listen to the Dead. Our discussion touches on topics such as the standards that cannabis will be held to when it is grown, the politics that affect those standards, and the actual development of what standards should be measured. Listen to the ups and downs the cannabis movement has faced and the utter ridiculousness that small business owners that sell cannabis have to go through in order to deposit their money from sales and pay their taxes. Listen in to Dom and Raj learn a bit more about what is going on in the cannabis industry here at home.
We are finally back in 2017 with a new episode! We talk to Jyl Lutes, schoolteacher and longtime City Council member here in Salinas. Jyl is a wealth of information on how our local City Council and School Boards operate because of her time there and we try to fit as much as we can into just one hour. We talk a bit about the hard work that goes into being a member of the School Board and why traffic is so rough around many of our schools. We touch on the unique situation Salinas has where we have many school districts and a City Council that has to find ways to work together, not always efficiently. Jyl gives us insight into what goes on in an average week for a City Council member. Because of her time on the Council, hear about the good times and bad that Salinas has gone through due to the tough economic times Salinas has faced at times. We briefly had a technical difficulty at about the 39 minute mark and we lost about a minute so hang in there with us because we talk about the difficulty of building and finding affordable housing here in Salinas. There is a lot we cover in this episode and our thanks to Jyl for being great enough to come in after a long field trip to San Francisco on a rainy day.
This episode features people that live in the Chinatown area of Salinas as well as a lawyer that works to defend them. We speak with homeless residents of Salinas that share a little bit of how they ended up in Chinatown and how they are receiving help from the community to get back on their feet and what else can be done to improve conditions down in Chinatown. Hear what residents in Chinatown have to say about the drought, the violence in Salinas, and what they would like people to know about Chinatown, a place that often gets a bad reputation here in Salinas. Our thanks to everyone for being our guests on this episode. Thanks to Wes White for his help in organizing the interviews and shout out to the fellas as the Salinas Underground Podcast for letting us use their portable mic to tape this episode. Hear and enjoy what will be the first of many episodes that come from Chinatown in Salinas. After listening, if you want to do more, you can always head down there to donate directly or there are other local groups such as Salinas Tent City that accept donations to give to homeless residents here in town.
This week our discussion is with Herbert Cortez from the Marina Coast Water District. Herbert was a great guest as we made a huge mistake and did not record most of our first interview correctly. He was a champ and stuck it out and answered questions twice. Listen in to hear what the value to consumers is when they have a public water agency compared to a private company. Hear why private water companies hope to make their way into local communities like Marina and what it could mean for consumers. Dom is by no means a water expert so Herbert was great about trying to make this understandable to someone unfamiliar with all the terms that go with water management. Water is always a huge issue here on the coast, listen in and learn more about the work the Marina Coast Water District is doing.
4 members of the Sociology Club of Hartnell sat down with the show during finals week at Hartnell to talk about their involvement in social issues at Hartnell and the community. Hear about the importance of Radio Bilingue, their work on the SalinasAlive program to reduce youth violence in Salinas, and an open mic event called Hartnell Throwdown that they put on. All those issues and more such as the state of hip-hop today, the Hartnell high reputation vs the reality of students being able to be themselves more fully and become more involved in student groups that they feel speak to their needs on campus. This was a great interview with students that show they are not disconnected with the world around them as some would think, they are just working on finding their own way through that world. We will speak to them again at an open mic event to bring you more on what they are doing at Hartnell and in Salinas.
This week, we welcome Alex Schumacher to the XL Publichouse. Alex is a local cartoonist/writer/dude on his grind. He shares with us his projects that can be found at AlexSchumacherArt.com and they have a little something for everyone. We hear about the work goes into writing a non-traditional, illustrated narrative called Decades of (in)Experience. They follow the life and times of one Luke Carlin, and you might find some familiar themes that we have all experienced in retail 9-5s. We get into another project of Alex's, Mr. Butterchips, and Dom is excited to find that he can purchase Mr. Buttercups merch. Word to the wise, if you get some merch, he will include a hand-drawn sketch, bonus! If you are trying to break into the comic/graphic novel biz, you can even check out Alex's column, Bread Crumbs From the Void, in Five2One Magazine. There he offers up tips and advice on what it takes to put out your own work and do it consistently. Listen in and share this episode of Call It What You Will with our guest, Alex Schumacher!
Back at the XL Publichouse, Dom speaks with Miranda from Our Gente, an LGBTQIA+ program at the Epicenter. Miranda does a great job walking Dom through what LGBTQIA+ stands for, twice, as he was slow to get it. Hear about some of the great activities Our Gente offers, such as Queering the Holidays that will be coming up next week, December 8th. Learn about some of the volunteer opportunities available so if you're interested, you can find out how to volunteer for Our Gente!
We are back from the holidays and this week we have two guests. We speak to a young political activist, Kynen, with his take on the recent election and discuss some of the events that he has been a part of locally. We also speak with Syd, a young person that also an interest in politics. She explains how she gets her news and how she felt about the recent election.
Also, we have some sweet new beats as we open and end the show with music from Rise Up. They are a local band to Salinas and were awesome enough to let us use their music. Be sure to check them out on Facebook and catch a show when they play near you!
It has been a strange week post-election and it shows in this weeks episode. Our sound board struggles returned with a vengeance as our worry over Walter's whereabouts have left us shaken. It was an episode of roundtable randomness as we briefly discuss the approved legalization of marijuana, crawling into a quiet hole to avoid the news the past week, and a surprisingly spirited debate over pizza buffets in Salinas.
Our longest episode yet. We started at 430 on election day and as the beers flowed throughout the night we talked to many in attendance to get their reaction to the election. Listen as the disbelief sets in suddenly and the conversation turns to one that many probably had across the land, what happens next? We talked to many in attendance at the XL Publichouse on an election night that will no doubt be remembered a long time.
We all have been overwhelmed with election coverage from within our country, so this week we spoke to people with a different perspective. We talk with David from Scotland, who is returning back to London after completing his post-graduate studies in Ohio. From there we speak to Eric in Canada and find out how they proclaim their Canadianess so as to not be mistaken for Muricans. The next stop is in Jamaica as we speak to Brandon, an American doing charity work down in Jamaica before he comes home this year. Last, we go all the way down under as we speak with Toby from New Zealand and how our election is seen thousands of miles away. With less than a week to the election, we find out what people from around the world are thinking about our upcoming Presidential election.
We were happy this week to speak to Edward Garcia, a local Salinas resident that made the trip to stand with others at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Listen in as he shares what he saw and experienced at the Oceti Sakowin Camp. Find out how Edward went from seeing the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline on Facebook to heading out to take part in what has become another chapter in the long struggle Native Americans have faced in America. Listen in and hear how far and wide people came from to stand against the pipeline.
This week we speak to Joey Espinoza from Monterey County NORML about the various cannabis measures on this upcoming ballot and what NORML does on the Central Coast to lobby effectively for the legalization of cannabis. Listen in and find out how this group has worked throughout the state to establish other chapters and become a voice for legalized cannabis use here at home. For more info, check out montereycountynorml.org
Mayor Joe Gunter sits down with us to talk about his time in office the past four years and what he hopes to accomplish if re-elected. Our conversation included the much talked about Yes and No on Z campaigns, building affordable housing, and the upcoming medicinal marijuana proposition. Listen in on the possibilities of wine tasting coming closer to home and what the city can do to improve the cultural offerings in downtown Salinas. The Mayor also educated us on local tequila production that escaped our attention. We finished up our talk with an update on what is going on with the homeless services that will be coming to Chinatown. Don't forget, if you want to voice your concerns to the Mayor and the City Council, go to the City of Salinas website and find out when the next council meeting is to voice your concerns.
This was our most difficult episode to date, as we gave ourselves the task of attempting to interview two guests at once, that are in competition for office. We probably shouldn't have tried to host a discussion in only our second month, but this race is important and we hope that our attempt to have a serious discussion on this race helps to inform you. Furthermore, we tried to ensure the discussion was accurate and so we asked to verify points that we thought needed to be checked. This added to the time it took to publish both parts of this episode, but we hope you enjoy the finished product. We definitely found areas we need to improve on if we ever attempt to do an episode like this again. Our thanks to our guests, Jose Castaneda, and Brian Contreras, for providing information when asked to clarify statements. We hope this clears up any confusion you might have from listening to the discussion.
Points of clarification in this episode:
It was said by Mr. Castaneda that the City manages the money of the Second Chance Youth Program. We did find that there was a check paid to Second Chance on the claims check report, 398885-399308, that is available publicly on the Salinas City website from 1/7/16. Also, in the proposed budget for 2016-17 listed on the City of Salinas website there was financial assistance proposed for Second Chance on pg. 452, but no amount was listed.
We asked Mr. Contreras to clarify what this meant and he stated:
The city of Salinas used to be our fiscal agent, meaning that they only processed our funds via paying our accounts and receiving out grants. They kept the interest generated on any funds we deposited in city accounts. This is what is meant by the "city being our fiscal agent". With that said, we have had a good working relationship tie the city until city finance director Matt Pressey took over. Since his hiring, he has been working on removing all non-profits from city coffers. We were the first one to leave. In 2012, we became a stand alone agency with our own bank accounts opened up at Rabobank. We did still get grants from the city of Salinas, the PSN grant which was from the US Attorneys office, but was granted to the city of Salinas for us. We also until 2015 received 8,000.00 from CDBG funds to support violent prevention efforts.
In regards to our agency still be listed on the city budget sheets. From my understanding, unless there is someone who specifically requests this line item be removed, or the city finance director feels it needs to be removed, it will continue to show up, but there will be 0 funds in the line item unless the city refunds the agency. Just because there is a claim, does not mean the city is our fiscal agent. This may have been a payable from the last of the CDBG grant from 2015.
Another point we wanted to verify was Mr. Castaneda brought up suspension notices of the Second Chance Program. He did provide 2 notices, one from June '09 for a delinquent filing and January '10 for a $50.00 balance.
In response, Mr. Contreras clarified that:
The 50.00 fee was because of the delinquent filing for SSBP...that is over 6 years ago and if it was still the case today, we would not have our 501 C 3 status. It would have been suspended.
Again, our thanks to both candidates for helping us to better understand the matters of this discussion.
All 3 Presidential Debates are in the books and we talked with a few people at XL Publichouse that caught the debate to see what they thought. We finish up with just the Call It What You Will Regulars at the roundtable and it predictably went south. Listen in to hear what people at XL thought after seeing the last of 3 memorable debates.
The Call It What You Will Regulars keep things professional when we interview people, but when it's just us, things flow a bit more loosely. Listen in on our moment of silence for the Wells CEO that lost his job and catch a bit of our reaction to the 2nd debate. Another night of roundtable randomness at the XL.
This week we interview Amit Pandya on why he believes he can be a force for positive change here in Salinas as he runs for Mayor of Salinas. Mr. Pandya is a local small business owner that has been an active member in the community as a leader of the Oldtown Salinas Association and an activist in other areas such as public safety spending here in Salinas. Listen in to learn more on a candidate running to be Mayor of Salinas.
Listen in as 2 of the 4 candidates for the District 1, Salinas City Council race discuss the issues facing their area. Our thanks to Jose Castaneda and Brian Contreras for coming in to discuss their ideas on how they would serve the needs of the District 1 constituents. This is the 1st of a 2 part episode. One clarification from this episode is Brian Contreras would like to clarify that a majority of his donations came from District 1.
20th Congressional District Candidate, Casey Lucius, has a conversation with us about her campaign for Congress and what she feels she can do to improve our community. This isn't just another candidate throwing us canned lines that have been said and heard again and again. Listen in and share with your friends as Casey talks with the Call It What You Will Regulars.
The Call It What You Will Regulars discuss ways to make the Presidential debates longer and more entertaining. Hear the various views the crew has on the Colin Kaepernick situation before they segue into a discussion on gun control. The show ends on a sad note, as the Regulars discuss the sad news that the Wells Fargo CEO will be losing his 2016 bonus. Before you rush to Wells Fargo CEO Strumpf's GoFundMe page to help him recover his bonus, enjoy an hour of random thoughts at the roundtable.
Dom, Walter, and Raj speak with Adam DeLeon about the interesting combination of politics, podcasts, opinions, and beer that you will find at the XL Public House.
We speak to Stephen Swift, a two-time Cancer survivor and traveler that has been biking around the US, Mexico, and Canada to raise awareness and simply talk and listen to people on the way. These past few weeks he has been camping out at the protest encampment at City Hall and shares some of his experiences here in our town. One hour certainly isn't time enough to hear this man's story, but this is the start to a story we will be coming back to in the future as Stephen finally starts his journey home to Oregon after his epic ride.
Dom, Walter, and Katie talk about how Trump will make Pebble Beach great again, the taco truck apocalypse, and a common Salinas debate, where do you go for Mexican food? Just a little bit of randomness from the Call It What You Will regulars.
This week Dom, Walter, and Katie speak to Ana Barrera from Safe Ag Safe Schools here in Salinas about their efforts to create a one mile buffer zone between schools and farmlands to protect schoolchildren from being exposed to pesticides that are sprayed in the nearby fields. This group can be found at Safe Ag Safe Schools on Facebook and meet the third Thursday of every month if you would like to attend one of their meetings. Meetings are held at 6:30pm on 931 E Market Street and you won't miss dinner because food is served at their meetings! You can RSVP for the meeting at (831) 325-1681.
Dom and Raj have a conversation with Katie about her experiences dealing with having cancer and the various issues it entails. You will be surprised to hear what fast food offering hit the spot during Katie's cancer treatment. Check out show #3 as the Call It What You Will Regulars continue to work on bringing a different point of view to the issues and politics of Salinas and the Central Coast. Next week, Call It What You Will hopes to have conquered its difficulties using the sound board properly.
Dom, Raj, and Walter speak with Angela Dorado from The Salinas Crime Watch Facebook page to talk about the use of social media to inform the public about local crimes.
Dom, Angela, and Raj kick off a brand new podcast in Salinas that will be talking about local politics and issues that affect the Central Coast.