After a happenstance meeting at the "Have Your Cake and Eat It Too" event (yes, that's what we're calling it), I was fortunate enough to get to connect with Governor candidate Adrian Jax and running mate Tobias Tarts for a Diatribes interview. If you want to know what their goals are, how many of RyRy's bills Adrian actually wrote, and who's been doing the real work-- well then, read on! We met up at a quiet dog park in the north part of the city- somewhere casual where we could discuss their campaign, and their thoughts on the city- the setting and the tone of the meeting really highlighting how approachable these two candidates are. We settled down on the grass, Adrian's security not too far away, before she jumped up again in excitement to show me some "bidness cards" she had worked on for "Necklace Topson" and "Chawei Morgage". (I highly recommend you finding these to see for yourself). Once the train was back on the tracks after a few laughs, the interview was underway. LSD: Why did you choose your slogan for your campaign (Live, Work, Play) and what does it mean to you, as far as your campaign goes? Adrian: "So we chose Live, Work, Play because that's, in my opinion, three things that are very important for life in Los Santos and San Andreas. The reason for that is that everybody deserves a place to live, everybody deserves a place to work, and everybody deserves a place where they can go out, have fun and play, basically. "I don't care if you're a criminal, if you're the governor, a police officer-- you should feel comfortable living in this state, you should feel comfortable working in this state, and you should feel comfortable playing in this state." Adrian's statement here was so genuine, and you could tell that she meant every word and this slogan truly was the heart. LSD: Given that's your campaign, what are the main things you're focusing on as your top issues? Tobias: "The fun thing about our top issues is that we're not making any promises. Adrian is a two-time Lieutenant Governor, she has the experience to know where to draw the line on campaign promises that are just platitudes instead of action. What we're focusing on is touching base with the community and the community leaders to find out what it is we can do to enable that slogan to become their reality." LSD: There's definitely that line, and I think that's good (that you have that experience). You have realistic expectations going into this, which a lot of people -- I'm not going to name names here-- are making promises to fix things that are broken before even talking to the people involved with the systems to see what is broken (if anything). Tobias: "It's one thing to sit down and say, you know-- I'll use PD because it's a hot topic, everybody says "PD's got problems"-- sure, fine. Let's say PD has a problem. What are you, Mr. politician or Ms. politician going to do to fix PD, and when you get their back to the wall they're like 'Well, um, uh, I'm going to make sure they expose their standard operating procedures-- I'm going to make sure the Department of Justice holds them accountable' and well, okay, the first part you can't. The second part, they try. With effective leadership, they have tried." Adrian: "So, when it comes down to the citizen glance of 'Oh, there's corruption in the police force', this is happening, or that is happening, it's fine and dandy that people feel that way and come and tell you-- that's okay. You have other State Reps or Governor-hopefuls that are saying 'We'd like to do this, this, and this to fix it'. "The reality is, your mouth fixes it. You, being vocal, or communicative with the leaders of these areas [departments], is exactly how you fix these kind of problems. Because nobody is going to know anything is wrong unless you talk about it." LSD: Exactly, it's about creating those partnerships with those leaders versus stepping over them saying 'I'm gonna do this for your department' Adrian: "Right, exactly, and I believe that every department and every person is the same way. Say you, as in you personally, you're probably going to take it better if someone comes to you and says 'You're doing this thing, and I'm not exactly a huge fan of it, could we talk about it?' rather than 'Hey, stop doing that, or else I'm going to fire you.' "I feel like that, and mediation, is a huge part of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor position. A lot of people don't realize that, but it really is. One of the main jobs I had, as Lieutenant Governor was mediating between departments, mediating between the public and the government, and hearing peoples concerns. Tobi and I have said that we're going to have an open-door policy. We're going to be out there on the streets telling people who we are, (if elected of course) giving our phone numbers out there, letting people know if they have anything, they can come to us. We're going to actually work, in stride, to take care of this by working with these department heads." Tobias: "Not only that, but I think there was a real missed opportunity-- two or three nights ago, with the last town hall where-- and this is in no way reflective of current sitting legislators or anybody that would set this up, but I think the idea of at the end of term having that transition of power, being able to say 'Hey, these are the things we've done this term. This is what the community, or this is what department heads wanted to see done for the next term. They completely missed that opportunity and had nobody show up. I think the only person to show up was SAFA. "I want to be able to make, and I know Adrian does as well, make it so we have that open-door policy that when those meetings happen, you can come and bring those big issues or you can bring those issues to us and we can try to move the ball forward in any shape or form- we're going to try."
Adrian: "There's a lot of moving parts in the state, but in my opinion, one of the biggest flaws of this last term that we had was that the person setting up the town halls didn't announce them."
She went on to explain that in many cases, she was the one announcing town halls when she approached the person (The Speaker of the House, RyRy) and asked when the next town hall would be. She was the one going to the press (Weazel), going to department head and making it known there was a town hall happening. In every case, the town hall was only mentioned if someone approached RyRy about it first.
On LSD's end, it definitely sounds like Mister Speaker dropped the ball in a big way as it took away the opportunity for people to air grievances, and bring forward issues. Adrian explained that she admires RyRy, but noted that was not the only constitutional problem (setting up a town hall being one of them) she had with him this past term.
Oh dear, RyRy. If you can't communicate with the cabinet and the media as a Speaker of the House, how do you intend to branch out further should you become Governor Elect?
I broached the subject of people voting just because of a name vs what people can do for them, and Adrian and Tobi both had realistic expectations.
Adrian: "I think every term is going to be that way, to be fair."
Tobias: "I think the memes and the comedy will usually shine through-- what I'm hoping for is that people go back and look at the debates and see RyRy in a different light. Because at that debate- it was a completely different person. It wasn't a typical meme-y, sit back and curse up a storm and tell a bunch of jokes like the past couple of debates. It seemed like he took it seriously, but he also stumbled and faltered when questioned about his leadership, about his record.
"To me, as a concerned citizen (not just as someone running with Adrian), I want to be able to have that faith and that trust in the person who's trying to take the executive position that they know what the executive branch does, versus the legislative branch-- and I don't think he does. I think he has a glimmering of a thought, but hasn't really gone to the people who have done that job to find out what it's like.
"People asked tough questions of me, and I stood up and I answered those questions. I believe in accountability for everyone."
Adrian took a pause to reflect on some of the bills RyRy has written over the past two terms, as some of them were written by Adrian herself-- in fact, an astonishing amount! RyRy had written 16 total bills, but of those, Adrian actually wrote 8-- 50% of his bills. Adrian, on her own, has written over 30-40 bills (80% or more of all bills written this past term). Tobias admitted he had written one.
We circled back to connecting with the heads of the department, specifically, and I asked if she had connections already established with some of the department heads.
Adrian: "I have a very good relationship with law enforcement command, high command, just because of the fact I was a senior state prosecutor. I have countless prosecutors, defense attorneys, PDO, police officers- they come to me and ask advice when it comes to law related things-- the penal code is my baby, and almost everything that has happened to the penal code since our first term has been because of me, because of something I put in or I have asked somebody to do.
"That being said, there are other departments that I am close with- SAFA, they don't have very many concerns, but when they do they're brought to me, because they know I'll take care of them. Lewis Knight, we have a decent professional relationship, Charlie Morgan- head ranger, one of my best friends. Violet Savage- again, a good professional relationship. Charlotte, Charlie Baker, I interview her for her DoCL position (Commissioner), we got along really well."
Tobias: "She's great!"
Adrian: "She's never really brought me concerns because she doesn't have any. Honestly, out of the current department heads of every department, the only one I haven't really spoken to is Kasper from Public Works, but I talk to Erin quite often, who is his right-hand woman."
Tobias: "The one I want to have a better working relationship with is DHS."
Adrian: "Yes, unfortunately Greg isn't.. as active, but I am friends with 'The Collector' with DHS, and she brings me DHS related issues."
Tobias had a moment of surprise for the name, and he laughed and updated Kate's name in his phone. Adrian explained the first time she met her, she was told to call her The Collector. Tobi went to explain as he updated the contact-
Tobias: "I like to make sure if people have a nickname, or even a street name-- you know MCs have road names- if that's what they want to be called, that's what I call them."
Adrian: "We're both very validating, we validate people in what they want to be called, what they want to do in their lives. At the end of the day, if somebody wants to.. live their life committing crime, they can do that, and I still want San Andreas to be a place where they can Live, Work, and Play."
If you're wondering what Adrian has her sights set on out the gate, should she be elected: she'd like to help make psych codes easier to read and process for both psychiatrists and patients, she has eyes on the judicial review of the speedy trial act (and recognizes there are issues with the speedy trial act that need to be addressed soon) and more job fairs!
Additionally, both candidates would like to see more transparency with budgets as well as what the departments are doing with the city. As an example, during Earth day week, vendors and entertainment showed up and the proceeds for the concert night was all for charity, where over 30k in donations were raised only halfway through the night.
When asked who they'd really like to work with, representative wise, the names Jimmie Dimmick, Norman Wren, and Richard Starr were mentioned. Both Adrian and Tobias also mentioned how impressed they were with Morrigan Ford's campaign and how refreshing her approach was with the public.
We further spoke on Prison Reform, their work with DOJ and how there really isn't a right answer for 'Is the prison system working' but they hope to work with SASS and DHS to improve the likelihood of reformation versus punishment.
As for last words?
Adrian: "...People will vote how they want, right? They'll vote for what they believe in, and I hope what they believe in is experience and people who want things to go a bit different than how it has gone this past year. I understand some of the other candidates are a bit more colorful in the way they're running their campaign, but do you want fluff in the office.. or do you want experience?
"At the end of the day, you have someone standing before you who knows exactly how it's working and wants to do it to better the state."
"Regardless of the outcome of everything, I'm not going anywhere. I'll still be a face people can see, and if I'm elected Governor I'll continue to work Mossy Stone, I'll continue to work Caked Up, I'll continue to be hired as a photographer because-- these are things I care about, these are things I've committed myself to doing and I don't quit something I've committed myself to doing."
Tobias: "As Adrian said, I'm going nowhere. I'm a founding partner of Brief Encounters Law, it's a civil and commercial law firm, we're not doing any criminal justice. I'm going to be focused on helping people at the grassroots instead."
This includes, as he stated, working jobs like GoPostal and hauling garbage to really understand what folks are dealing with in the menial type of jobs.
After the interview was concluded (which was abbreviated here from its full format), I found myself checking into my hotel, pouring over notes and recordings and feeling-- for the first time in a long time, hopeful for the future of our state.
If we could have even half the heart, compassion, and drive in our Government as Adrian Jax and Tobias Tart possess- I think we'll be just fine.
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