Dr. Jirair Ratevosian steps into the spotlight, not just as a man of politics and public health, but as a beacon of hope for a community he's both from and fervently serves. With a background as diverse as it is deep, he shares his journey from the son of immigrants to a UCLA-educated hopeful, ready to take on the Congressional mantle. As we peel back the layers of this dedicated public servant, listeners will unearth the pivotal moments that propelled Jirair from academia to the frontlines of public service, ultimately leading him to the campaign trail where he aims to become the first Armenian Democrat in Congress.
Throughout this episode, the narrative weaves between Jirair's commitment to national health policy and his personal growth forged in the fires of political campaigns. His tenure as a Hill staffer and his leap into corporate social responsibility showcase a versatility that's as remarkable as it is inspiring. The tales of supporting leaders like President Biden and Dr. Fauci, coupled with poignant anecdotes – such as a chance encounter leading to love on the Biden campaign trail – stitch together a portrait of a man whose professional and personal lives are inextricably linked to the betterment of society.
Join us as we trace Jirair's footsteps from the vibrant halls of volunteerism to the solemn responsibility of representing his district. The conversation spans crucial issues like healthcare accessibility, the transformative role of education, and the nuanced dance of foreign policy. As he candidly details his campaign's heartbeat, driven by accountability and problem-solving, Jirair honors the legacy of accessible representatives like Adam Schiff, while crafting his own narrative of dedicated service with unyielding determination and humility.
If you would like to get involved in Dr. Jirair Ratevosian's campaign, here are some links for you:
Phone banking: https://secure.ngpvan.com/xL7ER8RRHEWCXSP3Ehm-kA2
Canvas: https://secure.ngpvan.com/A5sCUx9POUKxDW6wBoDEkA2
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jirairforca?refcode=website
Dr. Jirair Ratevosian steps into the spotlight, not just as a man of politics and public health, but as a beacon of hope for a community he's both from and fervently serves. With a background as diverse as it is deep, he shares his journey from the son of immigrants to a UCLA-educated hopeful, ready to take on the Congressional mantle. As we peel back the layers of this dedicated public servant, listeners will unearth the pivotal moments that propelled Jirair from academia to the frontlines of public service, ultimately leading him to the campaign trail where he aims to become the first Armenian Democrat in Congress.
Throughout this episode, the narrative weaves between Jirair's commitment to national health policy and his personal growth forged in the fires of political campaigns. His tenure as a Hill staffer and his leap into corporate social responsibility showcase a versatility that's as remarkable as it is inspiring. The tales of supporting leaders like President Biden and Dr. Fauci, coupled with poignant anecdotes – such as a chance encounter leading to love on the Biden campaign trail – stitch together a portrait of a man whose professional and personal lives are inextricably linked to the betterment of society.
Join us as we trace Jirair's footsteps from the vibrant halls of volunteerism to the solemn responsibility of representing his district. The conversation spans crucial issues like healthcare accessibility, the transformative role of education, and the nuanced dance of foreign policy. As he candidly details his campaign's heartbeat, driven by accountability and problem-solving, Jirair honors the legacy of accessible representatives like Adam Schiff, while crafting his own narrative of dedicated service with unyielding determination and humility.
If you would like to get involved in Dr. Jirair Ratevosian's campaign, here are some links for you:
Phone banking: https://secure.ngpvan.com/xL7ER8RRHEWCXSP3Ehm-kA2
Canvas: https://secure.ngpvan.com/A5sCUx9POUKxDW6wBoDEkA2
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jirairforca?refcode=website
My Burbank Talks presents another episode of Meet the Candidate, the show where we invite anyone appearing on the Burbank ballot in the 2024 election to join us here and give our listeners a chance to learn about their background and the issues important to them. Now let's join our podcast.
Speaker 2:Hello Burbank, greg Schruett here with you once again for another edition of Meet the Candidate, and this time we are going a little higher up on the ladder and we're going to talk about Congress a little bit. And with us is somebody who you probably don't know, and that's why this is a great podcast, because you're gonna get a chance to meet him, to learn about him, his background, what he stands for, and hopefully it's gonna help you once again when you decide to make your vote. You know it's good to know the person behind your vote. You know, just not, it's not throwing a dart at a ballot. So with us we have Gerard Radovosian. I got it. There we go. You got it.
Speaker 2:And he is a Democratic candidate for the seat that's appearing Burbank. And, of course, finally, our congressman represents all of Burbank. For the last 20 years, we had dual congressmen. They split Burbank into two, which I've never understood. So and, by the way, dr Gerard Radovosian, absolutely I hate leaving the doctor out, because that's a degree is a very important thing in turn. So how you doing it?
Speaker 3:was a very expensive degree, so thanks for mentioning it. I'm doing good, greg. Good to be with you. Nice to be in your studio, okay wow, we appreciate you coming by.
Speaker 2:So we always start off by saying what got you here? So let's go back to the early days. Where did you grow up at and where did you first decide? Let's talk about. You know your degree is in. What's your degree in emergency?
Speaker 3:So I got my PhD in infectious diseases.
Speaker 2:Infection diseases a very specific thing.
Speaker 3:But I was a polypsi major in college and I studied medicine and polypsi, so always interested in politics and health, okay, great.
Speaker 2:So when did you decide? Where did you grow up at, where are you from and where did you go to school? And where did you go to college? Sounds good.
Speaker 3:So I was born in Hollywood. My parents came to Hollywood in the mid-70s my mom's Lebanese Armenian, my dad's Armenian from former Soviet Union Armenia and they came and they met in Hollywood in the mid-70s. So that's where I was born.
Speaker 2:So we actually have a Hollywood love story. That's really a Hollywood love story, not just a made for movies love story.
Speaker 3:A real born and raised person from Hollywood, and also born and raised in the district, because after a few years in Hollywood my family moved to Sunland. That's where we got our first home. Parents took advantage of, you know, they used to have these first time homeowners tax credits, and I remember how proud my parents were to be able to buy their first home. I must have been four or five years old and you know we didn't grow up rich, you know, but that home was a big get for us. We were very proud to have that. It was a condo in Sunland, which is part of the district as well. Grew up there for about another 10 years before we moved to Chatsworth. At that time I was going through Armenian school Armenian, as I've mentioned. I went to Armenian school, three different Armenian schools, one in Hollywood, one in La Crescenta and then graduated from Polly Martyrs Armenian School in Encino and then from there went straight to UCLA. I was a pre-med major, also a polysine major.
Speaker 2:So were you interested in going to medicine or you're interested in politics? At that time, what was your first one? You walked into UCLA the first day. What was your initial? I want to do what?
Speaker 3:You know, if you want the honest question, the honest answer.
Speaker 2:That's all we want here.
Speaker 3:Hopefully my mom and dad are not listening. I think when you're mostly from an immigrant family, or especially from an Armenian family, you're kind of brainwashed to either be an engineer, a doctor or a lawyer. Those are the only noble professions, and so I had an interest in medicine. At the time I didn't really know what public health was actually, so I was pre-med. There was always this I remember being fascinated by newspapers. I still read paper newspapers. I got the Alley Times, I got the Daily News and even back then at the young age, I remember watching the presidential speeches on CNN, and so I realized that that was. There was something interesting in polysine and political science, and so I may have been a little bit more interested in polysine, but I was a pre-med. I did all the pre-med courses. It took me five years to graduate because there were so many, and I came out with that dual education. Now, around that same time, I took this course called Politics and Infectious Diseases, and I remember instantly it was my favorite class.
Speaker 2:I have no idea how somebody would have married those two together.
Speaker 3:It was the fusion of my two interests and I learned about this thing called HIV AIDS and, for people who don't know, HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. It's been with us since the 80s A big part of the Hollywood story, of course and I learned about at that time how HIV is so much more than a disease. There's all these political issues related to it social, economic, religious issues and I was just fascinated by that. And that's when I learned about this thing called public health and I realized that you can have an impact on people and on human lives and on communities without having to go through medical school and then medicine deals with the person in front of them. Public health has a broader thing.
Speaker 2:So, instead of working on a patient, you're working on a population, a community, a lot broader base.
Speaker 3:Exactly so this public health thing is for me, and so after college I went to the East Coast to get my grad degree in Boston University where I got my MPH Master's in Public Health. Worked for a couple of nonprofits there, really interested. That's when I got my activist training and learned how to build political power. The Darfur genocide was happening around this time and I did a lot of work around connecting that to China and also bringing Jewish Americans, armenian Americans together, ambodian Americans to fight for Darfur genocide recognition and we did some good work with JCRC and other organizations there. And then from there, of course, you're close to Washington. I got the Washington itch. I remember going to DC a couple of times being exposed to the House of Representatives Fascinating and I'm like I've got to come here and then eventually got a job in DC.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's talk about what was your first job in DC. Then Where'd you start off at?
Speaker 3:My first job in DC was for a nonprofit. I worked for a nonprofit doing HIV and public health work. Our job was to convince Congress to appropriate more money for public health and to fight HIV and to support LGBTQ rights. So I was not a lobbyist but acted like someone who was going to Congress to shape policy and I wanted to work there. I was like this is the place. That place was so intriguing and the policymaking process out.
Speaker 3:I was watching C-SPAN when I was 20, you know, and not necessarily thinking that I wanted to be a member of Congress, I just wanted to be part of the process, be even writing bills. I was intrigued by how you, how you write bills. And then, after a couple years of working for that nonprofit, I got a call from Congressman Barbara Lee's office. Their longtime staffer was leaving and they wanted me to come work for them. And it was one of those calls that people don't usually get, because those Hill jobs are very highly coveted. And that was my first real political job in DC. I was Congressman Barbara Lee's legislative director.
Speaker 2:And what did you do for her? How long are you there and what did you do for her?
Speaker 3:Almost four years, I started working on health care issues. I worked on foreign policy issues. For people who don't know, hill staffers. You know they. They're usually, you know, 20 something years old. They go right out of college or some even start earlier and they're thrown in the middle of all of these different issues that come at a member of Congress and you know, at any given day you're working on education, environmental issues, something about public health, foreign policy challenges, depending on the member of Congress, of course and I had. I was legislative director, so I was overseeing all of the legislative priorities of the Congress. Women and I was especially focused on public health and the appropriations committee, as well as on foreign policy issues. She was very active on on global health and HIV, and then on foreign policy, of course. You remember she was the only one who didn't vote against the authorization, who didn't vote to support the authorization for use of military force in 2001 after the 911 attacks, and so she instantly became involved in foreign policy issues.
Speaker 2:That's uh, and you know you've been around now a little bit now. Okay, so you went from her and we're was your next. One other step up, didn't you? I did? I had the president contact you, right, or not maybe directly, but quite present staff contact you, and what was your next step?
Speaker 3:So actually before that I I wanted to get experience in the private sector and I actually got a job and in other words, you want to make some money first.
Speaker 3:Uh, probably both, probably both. Yeah, you know I wasn't. I still wasn't rich. As a Hill staffer you don't make any money. I had Very different. I had three roommates at one time, you know, living paycheck to paycheck, trying to pay off my expense of Boston University grad school student loans and and but. But the organ of the company that I worked for made all the HIV treatments and preventions and so again there was an HIV connection and in my interest in going there, it's called Gillian sciences, california based companies, so the company moved me from DC back back here in California.
Speaker 3:I actually to San Francisco, worked there for two years. I was. I was in charge of all their corporate social responsibility work, mostly in Africa and Asia. So I had the opportunity to develop these public health partnerships in over 50 countries, been all across Africa and Asia Working with governments and community organizations. So that was a really cool experience because I learned really how the world works and and also how, how, the, how the private sector operates. And then it was. It was around that time. I did that for seven years and then that's when Biden didn't call. But that's when. That's when I called him and I said I want to work for you because it was. It was right after the Trump you know, almost. It was the Trump Biden election and I wanted, I wanted president Biden to win, because I felt that he was the only one who would get us out of that ditch.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, I'm not. I'm not gonna get into the entire, you know, maggie, all those things with Trump, everything else but I really believe that the way he treated COVID-19 in the early days and, you know, even talked about I'll just drink some bleach or or he kind of mocked vaccination I think that's set the entire country on a bad track at that time.
Speaker 3:Yeah and. Damaging for public health too. You know people, yeah, I'm sure. Vaccines, questioning scientists and Fauci.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it's been kind of brought up. Okay, maybe masks weren't Necessary things. We didn't know that then and I think Dr Fauci at the time is trying to what's the most you know Reconscious thing, we didn't do. What can we do? You know, nobody's been through this before you know. So how do you have you met dr Fauci in?
Speaker 3:the event that he's been to my home in DC actually, and he, you know, I've worked, I've had the privilege of working on HIV. So those of us who have know him and work with him, he's one of the smartest people on the planet and I Think we were lucky to have dr Fauci there at that moment, translating what we knew about the science that was rapidly changing, you know, and sometimes you get it right. Sometimes we have to adjust along the way.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I felt really bad for him because he had he started to get a real negative, you know, and people were attacking him and here's the man's human entire life to public health and all of a sudden now he's being attacked and politicized and everything I felt. I felt bad for the man, you know, and I have a funny Fauci story.
Speaker 3:You know people ask me because I've been in DC for the last eight years.
Speaker 3:That's why, as you said, most people don't know who I am here, but the you know people ask me how was it like being in Washington when, when Trump was president and you know the, because I don't obviously support Trump or his policies, but we there was often two things always happened in DC there was always a protest happening in some corner Near the White House or the Capitol, so it was very protest heavy.
Speaker 3:And especially during COVID-19, when all the attacks were happening on on Fauci and and science, I decided to get this big, you know 20 by 30 foot poster of Fauci's face and I went up to the roof of my condo building and we draped it from the top of the roof down to the, down to the, the first floor. It covered the entire front of the building and we were on a big boulevard, new Jersey Avenue, and so we'd have people stop by, honks, you know, throw middle fingers at us. It was the whole thing. But that was, I think, my contribution to wanting to support him and science. And then eventually we had an event at our house. Dr Fauci came and he saw that and he was, you know, he loved it actually.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely, he says he has probably a great sense of humor, he does, and probably a really nice guy, you know, I just. But yeah, you know, like the police eyes near the end. So, okay, so you went to work for the Biden administration. Now, what was your? What was your? And especially now, this is proud, I mean, what a hot area to be in, you know. So, yeah, what were your responsibilities? What'd you do?
Speaker 3:so I have actually um, I'm really lucky because I actually met my husband because of all this, when I first I volunteered for him and Then they quickly put me in charge of some foreign policy groups that helping helping the candidate develop foreign policy positions. Then they sent me to Iowa To caucus to help caucus for him and landed in Iowa. You know, just exactly three years ago actually, and so what was that?
Speaker 2:like you go, I was, and now you're on a political trail. What's your pride? I've never experienced before. And what was that all about?
Speaker 3:I've. I've helped a president but president Obama and and Hillary back then during canvas, doing canvassing and helping to organize in In in Virginia and also in Pennsylvania, but never been to a caucus. That was Anomaly. That was like a dream come true, right, because you know everything. You know you hear about Caucuses is true, you know you land and you know every home has a has a political sign, every restaurant has a political sign, all these news crews everywhere taken over the entire city because of the Iowa caucus.
Speaker 3:I landed and they made me a precinct captain. Like Holy moly, I don't know what a, what a precinct happened to us. So I had to learn quickly and and and in that process is when I met another Biden volunteer at the time, who now is my husband, so it was a really good story. So did that, and then right around that time of course we can come back to that but a few weeks later that's when COVID came onto the scene and everything went virtual, and so that was the last time I had I had an opportunity to actually volunteer in person, and and and the volunteer work continued. When the president won, I got a call to be on what's called the transition team. You know when? Right, absolutely that helps the president elect prepare for the first day in office, and I was on the national security team of that and we did all the All the work related to COVID-19 and other national security issues that the president announced on day one.
Speaker 2:Now did you have? It's kind of been a little bit in a little bit of history. Is that Probably not a great transition? As far as help from one, Usually it's a very everyone's to help everybody out and and be very. You know I'll go about it. I heard a lot of times this was not the case. And this last transition, Do you guys have some problems?
Speaker 3:Absolutely yeah, this you know, the, the peaceful transition of power is, is a is a hallmark of our, of the American democracy, american democracy and now we've lost the word peaceful and we lost all of that, the peaceful and the transition, and it took, I think the they sat on.
Speaker 3:There is some, you know, regulatory technical things you have. The president has to sign to allow for the Transition team to have access to documents and all that stuff. They sat on that for months and but the but the Biden transition team, we, we, we continue to prepare as until they, until they finally Gave us the authorizations that we need. It was it was a really, I think people, we forget how, how dangerous and scary those times were. You know, covid was on the scene, vaccines were not available. Yet you know, we had this very traumatic and difficult election. We have a president who, trump, was denying the outcome of the election the Biden administration had just won Without. You know, we didn't even know if Trump was gonna leave on January 28th, and remember we were talking about and so it was a really difficult time and it's hard to believe that was only three years ago and and so we were.
Speaker 3:When the president eventually got the authorization, authorization to fully implement the transition team. That's when we had we wrote all the COVID policies. You know the United States was out of the World Health Organization, right? Remember, trump pulled us out. We wrote the authorization to put us back in all these things that the president did on day one. And then eventually I got a call to be to be able to join the, the administration of the State Department, and that was the kind of call that any young DC person wishes to get, and I was extremely Humboldt and excited for that opportunity.
Speaker 2:I worked for the State Department. State Department means you're talking worldwide, so if you're not just talking in a nation, yeah. So what were you? What were you doing with the State Department?
Speaker 3:The State Department, I was working in an office called the office of global health diplomacy and HIV. It's the PEPFAR program. This is PEPFAR is the president's emergency plan for AIDS release, something that president Bush started. It's the single largest global health initiative ever that the United States has ever taken, even greater than the Marshall Plan. President Bush started this. I've met president Bush several times, by the way, worked with the Republicans on this PEPFAR initiative. This was a massive United States initiative to fight HIV around the world and in Africa. So I was in that office, I was a chief of staff in that office, I helped the ambassador incoming ambassador create Then you know, the new PEPFAR policies, the new new office of global health security and, and I also helped with vaccine rollout. At the time the United States was sitting on million doses of Pfizer that we were getting ready to ship around the world. So we were doing Government engagement and all the stuff that you had to do to prepare to get those vaccines Out.
Speaker 2:At the time, you know us had vaccines but the rest of the world didn't well, even then, it was hard to get these governments to accept it, and especially some of these, you know dictator nations to actually, you know, want to Give their citizens vaccines, you know.
Speaker 3:And, by the way, many were skeptical about the us. Remember this was a side effect of the trump administration. They had just been insulted by the trump administration. He called african countries shithole countries, if you remember. I don't know if I could say shithole on the pot.
Speaker 2:I think you just did. I just said it twice Sorry.
Speaker 3:But you know when it took some time to have to to restore america's credibility and image, that's right yeah let me ask you this because you know, I mean, you are pretty much an expert on AIDS.
Speaker 2:Now, you know, of course I was around back. You know, I remember back before we actually had a disease called AIDS. Aids was a diet supplement. I remember I was working in a store at the time and all of a sudden we had to pull all the packages of AIDS off the shelf because of this, this new, uh, you know disease that was out. I fell bad for the company because these lot you know their name just went right down the drain.
Speaker 2:But but back then if you got AIDS, it was a death sentence. You know, I mean ready, all the people that had that had, you know. And I remember the day magic johnson announced and I said, wow, we're gonna, we're gonna lose magic. You know, I mean one of the most. You know what a great personality, what a great person. And you know we've got to just basketball town. But he lights up a room and but I also said to myself you know what I mean the background thing you know there's a cure for AIDS. I said if anybody Can get to the cure, it's probably gonna be Magic Johnson. Now I'm not saying you, we can cure AIDS. But you know, you see the commercials on television now and you take this and it's non-detectable. Where are we now with AIDS? Where is it? Yeah, is it still a death sentence? Or, of course, we don't take the drugs or whatever, or yeah, where are we at with AIDS now? Where does it come to today?
Speaker 3:we've. I Love this question, thank you, because, because the science has advanced so much, we HIV and Most people are not even diagnosed with AIDS anymore, because the virus is called a HIV and that leads to a disease state called AIDS, like you said. But most people, because the medicines are so much better, less toxic, easier to tolerate, most people don't even advance to an AIDS diagnosis and that's true.
Speaker 2:You know what people like naïve to sing oh, it's AIDS, it's not. Yeah, hiv is Just that. You know it's what's it's in your body. But then, if it's not treated, it becomes AIDS.
Speaker 3:It is what happens here immune system, exactly right, exactly, so that doesn't happen anymore, because people who are on treatment Actually and they didn't treatment, let's remember, is a pill and Dave, they actually are completely undetectable and because they're, the virus is fully suppressed. And by the way, this issue is close to home Mike is my, my husband, as HIV and that's how we talk about it. We don't say he has eight, he has HIV, hiv is in him, but he takes his HIV medication and he's 100% healthy and so am I and I and I and I don't have HIV because, because he has the protection from the, from the medication, it doesn't get transmitted to your partners. And that's how much we've progressed on HIV. And there's still people getting HIV in Los Angeles, which is a big problem, and we can talk about that on a different podcast, but but we are far from over, from finishing the job on HIV and actually that's a big one of the reasons why I want to go to Congress, because there's a lot to do on HIV and on other health issues.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, let's start talking to that. So you, you came back here to Burbank how, how long ago, as you come back to Burbank now and you are a resident actually out here in Burbank. Yeah, so when did you come back? And then, what was your? You know what was your itch to say? You know what? It's time not just to work for somebody in office, it's time to run for office. What? Where did that come off from? And what I say? How'd you come back to Burbank? How long ago?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I, um, I, you know over overall my jobs. I obviously became more and more politically active, more and more involved in shaping policy, making policy and and it was I've always wanted to look at I look at jobs. Actually, I haven't really. I don't usually apply to jobs. Jobs come to me Just because of the different kinds of works that I've worked, that I've done and I've always tried to. The question I always ask is am I afraid to go into this job and can I make a difference? And if the answer to those two questions are yes, and it's a job that I usually take, so I always Want to be afraid because it's an opportunity to learn about something. I think the best way to learn about something is is to fail, no, but to learn from your mistakes. And then and then and then am I making a difference? Those are the always the questions that I that I applied any job.
Speaker 3:When it came to the news that you know that our longtime congressman, adam Schiff, was running for Senate To me within that same announcement, I I immediately thought oh my gosh, this is an opportunity to really have an Armenian representative in Congress For for your listeners to know.
Speaker 3:You know this district that Adam has been representing is about 15% Armenian. You know, we have lots of Armenian Armenians across Burbank, glendale, pasadena, tehunga Armenians are all over. But, more importantly, this district is so diverse, you know, and we've never had an Armenian Democrat in Congress before, and so that I was thinking, wow, this is a real big opportunity for us to really have an IAN. You know, armenians have IAN last names in Congress and at the time we had just had a war in Artsakh and we were trying to get the Armenian genocide Recognition happen, and and I and I was really excited about that opportunity and and and that's why I decided to quit my job. I haven't actually had a job for the last Eight months. I've been unemployed for the first time since I was maybe 15. My first job was a basket Robbins ice cream scooper in the valley.
Speaker 2:But I have jobs. In fact, your job right now is being a candidate. Basically it's. You do have a job, it's just not a paid job.
Speaker 3:I just to pay exactly it's, and then that makes it a little tough, but it also gives me time to focus on on the campaign and talking to voters. But, but, yeah, I quit my job. I came out here and and established residency in Burbank and, and and it's been. The rest is history. I officially declared and I have been, you know, door knocking since I got out here, you know, to learn about the issues, to learn about what's on people's minds, to, to, to, to get more awareness around my candidacy.
Speaker 3:I knew at the time that this wasn't gonna be easy. You know, I applied the two-question test. Am I scared? Of course I'm scared. This is the scariest thing I've ever done, actually. But and is there an opportunity to change, you know, and make a difference on people's lives? That, and the answer is it was yes, greg, and and this opportunity to serve all Different communities that are part of this district was too great. And and when I looked at all the other candidates, by the time I decided there were about ten people who had already entered, and and I remember people saying you sure you want to do this or send other people who who are running, and you know most of them are well-known people in the there was talk about something.
Speaker 2:We've got, um, laura Friedman and an athlete for Tina, who are both Elected politicians from Burbank, burbank area. One is a assembly person, one's a state senator, and They've had a lot of, you know, a lot of years here in Burbank. How are you certain? Of course we've got the Company I call the outcast people who said, oh, the job looks sexy, it's Adam's just see, we want to go for that seat, you know. And they're got a guy from LA all of a sudden who couldn't make it in LA. Now he's trying to come for the job and you have an actor and that's all great and I appreciate all these people and their desire. But you know, I think we're looking for a Kind of a serious politician here, especially when it comes to Congress. So how do you differentiate yourself from from both, you know, from two candidates who have a lot of experience being legislators?
Speaker 3:Yeah, there are a lot of candidates in there and it's For me, it's, it's an honor to be part of really a steam group of folks, but there are big, big differences between myself and and and and and Argentina and freedmen and others. I'm the only one in this race that has a Federal experience and and I actually think that the experience that I have in Washington is a lot more important than the experience.
Speaker 2:Federal and also international and also international.
Speaker 3:But that's different from Sacramento, craig, I think just because you know how Sacramento works, that doesn't translate to Washington. It's a whole different beast out there. We're lucky here in Sacramento we have a mostly Democratic majority. It's that you don't have that in Washington, and so I've been in the trenches working with Republicans and Democrats. I have endorsements from from Republicans and Democrats, supporters of mine as well and and I think that experience that I have working for Barbara Lee, knowing how to build political power through my HIV work, knowing how to be humble in not believing that I'm the smartest person in the room my grandfather taught me humility. That's, I think, my greatest strength. Those are the things that I think will make me an effective Representative, not only as a as a gay Armenian who represents two big communities here, but also as an educated Professional who knows how Washington works. I I also am not You're gonna laugh when I say this I'm not cynical about Washington, I think.
Speaker 3:Washington is you know Washington's crazy, but it's always been crazy. I think the only difference is now we have C-SPAN and CNN telling us it's crazy every single day, you know. And so we. But we need, we need a new generation of leaders. We need young people to go there with a different attitude, an attitude to actually solve problems, and that's when I'm bringing that stuff. The last thing Washington needs is another career politician. I know, because I just was when-.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, I'm gonna-.
Speaker 3:That's my case.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna throw this question at you. It's probably off of our topic, but you can't have brought up a new, and I agree we do need a new generation, new thinking. It's worked well for the Burbank City Council. We have a younger city council now. It's a little more hip to what's going on and they're not scared to try different things.
Speaker 3:Have a young and diverse vice mayor.
Speaker 2:But what about? What about? Okay, you're Joe Biden fan, no doubt about it, but isn't he? We're looking at two candidates gonna be around 80 years old now. Do you think that's the best for our presidential race in this country, or should we be looking somewhere else?
Speaker 3:Well, I think you know I'll put you on the spot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, no, you can't have brought that up a little bit, it's not a secret that Joe Biden is President.
Speaker 3:Biden is old, of course he's old, but I also think he's the most accomplished president, probably since Roosevelt, if you look at what he did to pass the infrastructure bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, a lot of the projects that we're seeing approved here for our state high speed rail, all the other things that's coming from President Biden's leadership, not to mention all the things that he'll never get credit for, the stuff that are not sexy, that I mentioned earlier in terms of the COVID response, restoring international order, strengthening NATO, fighting Russia because of its aggressions on Ukraine. These are important things, craig, that threaten America's democracy. So I think he's one of the most consequential presidents. So for me, the age doesn't matter, because he's actually he's a master legislator and he has that experience. You recognize the genocide. I was in that room when he said I'm gonna recognize the Armenian genocide and he that was huge. That was huge. Presidents have been sitting on that for years.
Speaker 2:And I'm shipping, fighting for it, year after year after year, resolutions, everything else, and probably acknowledging was a huge thing.
Speaker 3:But he had that, the experience of 40 years or 45 years, I forget how many years he was in the Senate a long time to have that insight, to know that the sky is not gonna fall, and that's the kind of leadership that the president brings. So do I wish that we had a younger option? Sure, of course, but President Biden will continue to deliver and the last thing we want is another president Trump, because that, we know will be very detrimental to our democracy and to our health and to global order across the board.
Speaker 2:My dad actually lived 101, and when he was 99, I had to take his car keys away from him. Really, oh, he was very self-sufficient, right I mean. So to me it's not the age and the definition, it's the mental acuity and everything. So I've seen, like I say, my dad was driving till 99, and I've seen teenagers at 16 get a car because you're 16, you can get a car, you get a license. That doesn't mean you should really have a car and should be still in the drive. We use age sometimes instead of experience, instead of rational thought and things like that. So which we can never, you can't really test for. But I don't have a problem with his age as long as his mental acuity's still there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree, but it also doesn't mean that we shouldn't support and have.
Speaker 3:If there is a new generation, like I was saying, of leaders who are ready to serve and who have the kind of experience that I do, we should be supporting them to go into Congress, because the average age of Congress is also old, by the way, and it's like 70-something. So even if I'm elected, I'll be one of the youngest members of Congress, even though I'd be 40-something. But younger people, craig and I think this is important we're a little closer to the challenges that we're trying to solve, whether it's climate change, which is our future, education and student loans, which is something I still have after paying my student loans off for 15 years, and so there's a generational divide on some of these issues and, by the way, also on foreign policy issues too. So I think there's a space and time for younger leaders to emerge, and we have this opportunity to elect in this district not only someone who has that experience, but also comes from the community. I was born and raised here.
Speaker 3:You mentioned Anthony and Portantino and Laura Friedman. They weren't born here, they came from other states. They've had a name for themselves the last 15 years.
Speaker 2:Including out of shift though, too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but so my roots are deep here in this community.
Speaker 2:Okay, so let's talk a little about platforms, about what are you? I'm sure it's gonna be health issues and pharmaceutical drug prices and things like that. I'm sure I will say this Mark Cuban is able to do things with drug prices that the government's not been able to do so far. So I don't know if you're you don't know about his company or not.
Speaker 3:Is that the one that he's importing drugs from?
Speaker 2:I'm not sure but Mark Cuban's a pretty smart guy. He's a self-made guy. So what are your platforms? How are you gonna convince people in the district that you are the guy to represent not just health issues, but what are the other issues, like housing and things like that? What else do you? Are you gonna go there and try to legislate?
Speaker 3:And to hopefully problem solve Not just that.
Speaker 3:I think one of the problems with, with the way people get elected these days, is they go, and this is true for Republicans especially. They go and their purpose is to stop things from happening. You know, we, one of the biggest challenges we have here, as you've already alluded to, is the issue of housing and the issue of those who are unhoused, you know, and housing affordability, of course, is top of mind. It's top of mind for me now as a renter, and for my, you know, personally, for my family, and you know, what I want to do is bring back some of the things that were so tied to that American dream that was important for my family at the time. When I think of the American dream, I think about, you know, the tax credit that I mentioned that my family was able to take advantage of to buy their first home. Sadly, we lost that home in a foreclosure because my father lost his job, but the government supported us to buy our first home. The Affordable Care Act that President Obama and Biden got through the Congress saved my mom's life. She is a cancer survivor and the only reason why she has access to healthcare was because of the Affordable Care Act. And I got student loans, you know that's how I was able to go to UCLA and then to Boston University. I think those are the things that we have to protect and fight for, because the American dream means different things to different people, but those basic fundamentals.
Speaker 3:As it relates to making housing more affordable, supporting Mayor Bass on what she's doing around the housing and homelessness issue, congress has a big role in dedicating federal resources. I've publicly said and I call on all my other candidates and I hope you ask them this question when they come on your show I've already said that 25% of my year marks will go towards affordable housing projects and because that is the biggest, biggest challenge that we have here, I also want to support small businesses. I know a lot of Democrats are afraid to say that they're pro-small business. Absolutely, I'm pro-small business. My grandfather was a small business owner in Van Nuys.
Speaker 3:Small businesses are the heartbeat of our cities and they're struggling post-COVID Now that especially the taxes are coming back online, and I think we need to do a lot to alleviate some of the financial pressures on small businesses so that they can flourish and create more jobs. That's a big part of my platform. I mentioned healthcare. Of course. Healthcare is one of my main issues. I think the Inflation Reduction Act that President Biden asked, that most people don't know already is doing a lot to lower the price of drugs. There's actually.
Speaker 2:I have actually seen that. I have seen some things.
Speaker 3:Ten drugs have already come down and it just allows the government to negotiate a lower price. There's still more we can do. I want to bring my private sector experience to lower, to make it even to make it healthcare more accessible. I also want to focus on education. Education is another priority area of mine.
Speaker 3:I think, craig, education, the way I see it, is the greatest equalizer, and a for-profit student loan system should never stand in the way of any student accessing student loans or being able to afford to live because they went to school, and that I know President Biden has tried to cancel some student loans.
Speaker 3:I believe I support that. I think students should be paying off some portion of their loans, but I have a plan that would also give congressional authority to cancel some student loans so that people can actually get to work and not have two jobs to have to pay their student loans, and I think we have to take the profit out of some of that repayment. So education is also a platform. And then, as you mentioned, because I've been in foreign policy and I have the internationalist mindset and I think that matches a lot of what constituents expect, because I hear a lot about what's happening in the Middle East. I hear a lot about what's happening in Ukraine. As an Armenian, we have personally felt the pain of what happens when your homeland is attacked. That happened this past summer or last summer, I should say, and I had a chance to visit Armenia around that time and so we need someone who can also lead off some foreign policy issues, and I want to bring that progressive mindset to lead on some foreign policy issues.
Speaker 2:I've often wondered we have news every night, we have reporters in Gaza and we have reporters in Ukraine every night, but what happened in Armenia? It seems we just have glazed it over as a nation. We don't, for some reason. Why is that not on our radar, do you think?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think it's because we don't have, because we're losing in Washington, and this is what I've been talking a lot about on the campaign trail is because we don't have a strong Armenian lobby. We don't have a strong Armenian voice in Congress or representation in Congress to push the administration or to push the Department of State. I know because I was on the receiving end and we need to build Armenian power in Washington to be able to help support that cause. Armenians are a big part of the DNA and the ethnic diversity of this beautiful district and this country and Armenia-US relations go way back. And what's happening now in Ukraine directly impacts Armenia and Armenia.
Speaker 3:The country itself has made a Western pivot in recent years and the US should be taking advantage of that because Armenia wants to come out of Russia's sphere of influence. So it's in American interest to support Armenia and to support Armenian issues. But you need an Armenian, we need an Armenian representative. I believe all communities need representatives and I think one of the reasons why you don't hear a lot about it is because we don't have champions in Congress.
Speaker 2:Well, I agree with that and I think one of the you know, as an outsider looking in, I look at our two parties. I can't wish we didn't have any parties at all. We just had, you know, well thought people in there working together. What's going to happen? I mean, right now, you know, ukraine is being tied in with border security.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:How? How do we? What's the easy way to say this? I mean, it's a very complex issue. How do we number one? How do you not fall in the party line? How do you say you know if you think differently, are you still going to stay in that party? I mean, I think that these are big issues. I just hate politicians who just all fall in the same category and vote because their party said to vote that way. And, of course, there's a lot of pressures people don't know about financial pressures and assisting with campaigns and everything else that goes on. So how do you, how do you have independent thinking and independence? You know voting and things like that and issues. How do you, how do you propose to do that?
Speaker 3:I think that this is probably the most important question, because this is, I think, the main difference that I bring compared to some, some of the career politicians that you mentioned, because that jockeying that you're talking about will happen the minute after election day, when you'll get a call from whoever they're presumptive speaker of the house is going to be, and they're going to make you make promises on the phone that night. Congratulations on winning. Look, I need you to do these two things.
Speaker 2:And, by the way, I think politics is fascinating. So please, you know, give us this inside stuff.
Speaker 3:I've been on, I've been with the person who's received that kind of call before right, and so you know, you need to know how the system works and you need to know how to negotiate a committee assignment to be able to make you an effective representative, to be able to deliver for your you know, your constituency. This is how I'm different from Laura Friedman and Anthony Portantino, who know how Sacramento works. I don't know how Sacramento works. I know how Washington works, but I don't want to go to Sacramento. And I think what young people bring younger people, I should say is that it's a new way of thinking about how to get things done.
Speaker 3:I'm not afraid to say I want to work with Republicans, I want to work with the private sector, I want to work with the support small businesses. Of course I want to because we don't have a supermajority in the House and in the Senate and we have to work with all parties to get things done, and that doesn't mean compromising on your values, and so we have to call things out when they're egregious, like what Republicans are doing now on taking on reversing the clock on abortion rights, on stripping away my LGBTQ rights. So we have to call a spade, but at the same time, we have to work with them on environmental policies, on expanding access to healthcare, on passing comprehensive immigration reform. These are things that and even gun violence prevention. There are some common sense measures, absolutely gun violence prevention.
Speaker 2:It's unbelievable. I can't understand how everybody says well, it's a person, not the gun. Yeah, if the person didn't have the gun, then it wouldn't be the person or the gun.
Speaker 3:This is another example of how a powerful lobby in Washington can really change the discourse on a topic, and we need to beat the NRA, and I think you're seeing a lot of young people come into Congress on this issue, which is really exciting, and it's one of the big issues that I want to also fight for. So what I'll bring is a different kind of thinking, because I'm not a politician already. I don't have special interests supporting me, craig. I don't have corporations supporting my campaign. I'm a community person, I come from the community and I'm generally going to problem solve, and first thing I'll always say is that I don't know all the answers. I'll surround myself with smarter people who will help me get to the right answer and who will help me do the right thing and work with the people. We need to get things done.
Speaker 2:All good stuff, you know. When it comes to the border and everything huge, complex projects I don't know how one Congressperson will ever make a difference, although a voice is still somewhere to start.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Let's go to a little different subject here as we start to wind down. What has it been? Okay, first time you've been for office, what's been the experience? For what? Seven, eight months? How long ago did you file For?
Speaker 3:June yeah, so seven months Okay so what's the experience so far?
Speaker 2:What did you not expect? When it comes to raising money, Of course you're finding that's the golden goose and how is that going? What experiences did you not realize you had to figure out? And what's the journey been so far? It was seven months.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I think I'll write a book about this. So stay tuned. But no, I'm just kidding, it's been. You know, I it wasn't foreign to me, craig, because I, as an HIV community organizer, as somebody who did formal campaign training before I did all these things, because I was helping other candidates and I was helping even Congressman Lee and her campaigns before I mentioned Clinton and Obama so I've always been in campaign. So deciding to do it didn't feel foreign because I knew what I what had to happen.
Speaker 3:But it's been tough. It has been a really tough seven months because, first of all, I don't have a paycheck and so, living on my husband's support and on our savings, the grind of making calls every single day. People tell you being calling people and asking them for support and sometimes your biggest supporters are the ones who have already given you money. You're like, hey, can you do another check? And that's hard. But if you give people a vision in terms of what you're fighting for, that makes it a little bit easier.
Speaker 3:But the competition is tough as well. We have candidates who have millions of dollars already raised and a lot of it is coming from special interests and corporations. We're a grassroots campaign and I'm trying to get to half that money and I think with half that money we will win, but it's been tough and you just have to keep on keeping on. I think what has been great is that I have had an overwhelming support from my family my mom and dad, who've been canvassing door to door in different parts of the community, my husband, who's out here.
Speaker 2:I was gonna ask you about your mom and dad. How are they? Oh yeah, Are they pretty excited about all this, Is it? You know? I mean, what's it like for them?
Speaker 3:You know we didn't come from. We're not the Kennedys we didn't have. I didn't come from a political family. So you know, I think they were intrigued by the whole process. They were worried that I would, you know, be too stressed or that my identity as a gay Armenian would, would cause danger. You know, to come my way and I've been targeted and assaulted verbally online. I've heard some really ugly things about who I am, about my identity, and I think my parents were concerned about that, but overall they were so proud that I had made this tough decision to wanna run and represent this district. They're now fully on board.
Speaker 3:You know my parents send me emails about different events that are happening. They're. You know they're watching the mail to see other, you know pieces of political information that gets mailed, so they're all in and then my they're door knocking. They're mobilizing the Armenian community. I speak Armenian, like my parents do, and so that makes it an effective way to communicate with Armenian voters. It's been great and I think if I didn't have their support, I didn't have my husband's support, I don't know how anyone would be able to do it, you know, and so that's a big part, and, of course, my dog I have to mention we have a golden doodle pup and she's a secret. When you walk down the street it's a good way to meet people and dog parks.
Speaker 2:Is that the truth? Do people love to talk about your dogs?
Speaker 3:I mean.
Speaker 2:I have the greatest dog. We all have the greatest dog in the world, don't we?
Speaker 3:We all do. I'm biased. Josie is number one, so you know I don't wanna lie that it's been fun, but it's been very rewarding because I've learned a lot along the way. I've learned that you know, just because you have the right ideas, it doesn't mean you have the right strategy to win, and. But I have no regrets about any of this and I'm very confident that we're gonna win.
Speaker 2:I know. Currently, in fact, one of my neighbors is hosting a get together for you. So are you doing a lot of those throughout the district and everything else? And is that you know? Do you feel that's the really the best way to get your message out to people you get to? I think, getting to know you that's why we do this podcast. Yeah, people need to get to know who you are in a longer conversational format and instead of just you know it's gonna get in the mail and right now it's basically. We all get 20 things a day, you know, for campaigns in the mail and they become just, you know, white noise to us after a while. So is that, right now, the best way that you find to get out? And we will also, by the way, put your contact information below in the description, so you know, contact your campaign to set up a meeting or something. We can do that for you too. But how do you? How have those been going so far?
Speaker 3:Great. Thank you so much for doing that. Yeah, I think the what I hope people take away from this and thank you for the opportunity to be here is that I'm an average person. I'm not someone who is rich, privileged or has had an easy past to any of my jobs or to Congress, and I'm humble and I want people to get to know me, to ask tough questions and for them to be confident, you know, because I want their support, and those get-togethers, as you mentioned, is the best way to do that. So your neighbor has a sign up, which is really nice. It's a good way to meet people. I'm doing those, yeah, all across. We've got them lined up in Hollywood. We're doing one in Pasadena. We've got a couple lined up in West Hollywood. West Hollywood is a big part of the constituency that I'm trying to represent, because we've never had a gay representative from Los Angeles in Congress. Oh right, and so this is the first time and, as a gay Armenian, I didn't really have any role models either, and so we're doing a lot of activity in West Hollywood.
Speaker 3:I love the voter engagement piece. Makes me so much smarter because people are so smart. People know what ideas and solutions we need. It's about channeling them in a way that actually can make a difference, you know, and so anytime I doorknock or I'm engaging with people, I'm learning, and people are learning about my style and my ability to get results, and so those are things that we're doing, but people can reach out on our email. We're looking for volunteers for phone banking and, of course, financial support is always something that we need as well.
Speaker 2:The way we're always re-repping these podcasts up is I always give the candidate a couple minutes to say whatever he's on his mind. Why, when they go to that ballot box, is it March 5th? I believe March 5th. Why is it they should put that check next to your name or hit that or punch that card, as they do in our booths in California? Why vote for you? So the floor is yours right now.
Speaker 3:Thanks, Greg, yeah, I want people to know that my roots are deep in this district. Born and raised, as I mentioned, I am the embodiment of the American dream. As a son of immigrants, this country has been so great my family and to me and I've always tried to pay that back through the different jobs that I've had and the different experiences that I've had to help people the poorest, most marginalized people in our community and in the world. I want people to know that I will always be accountable to people. I won't be accountable to corporations. I won't be accountable to special interests. I will always report to people and that's how I will always channel the way I look at different bills and different opportunities to help serve.
Speaker 3:People who know me also know that I don't just like to talk. I actually like to roll up my sleeves and get stuff done. And with me you'll get someone who's actually a doer and who's actually will listen, will develop a strategy and then will actually work with whoever we need to work with to problem solve. And when they go to the ballot box, I hope they vote their conscious and to vote for someone who actually knows how that crazy place works, someone who knows exactly what to do on day one, even before day one, and who will be accountable to them every single day. We're so lucky we've had a great representative like Adam Schiff. One thing I've heard all over the district is oh, adam was so approachable. Adam's office returned my phone call. Adam helped us with the passport, adam helped us with the citizenship application. Those are the things that we should expect from our members of Congress, and that humility is what will stay with me and will help me serve our community.
Speaker 2:Very good, Appreciate it Well. That's it for another edition of Meet the Candidate with Dr Gerard Radavosian. I'm getting better at it. You got it. I'm getting better. It does roll off your tongue after a while Couple times, yeah, absolutely. Thank you very much for coming in. We appreciate it, and good luck out there on the campaign trail and we'll see you again on the next edition of Meet the Candidate, my Burbank Talks would like to thank all of my Burbank's advertisers for their continued support. Ups Store on Third Street.