- Welcome to "Inland Edition," where we have conversations with people who make decisions that affect our everyday lives.

My name is Joe Richardson.

I'm a local attorney, Inland Empire resident, and your host.

And today, we're going to chat with our very own executive director.

Raised in Chino, California attending Inland Empire schools [background music] and raising twin daughters with her favorite husband, Connie Leyva began her community service career by serving as both union representative and president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1428.

In 2004, she was elected as the first woman president of the California Labor Federation, representing more than two million California workers.

For eight years, she represented the 20th State Senate District in the California State Senate, authoring bills dealing with public safety, consumer protection, health and human services.

Currently, the executive director of the KVCR Public Media Center, Connie is an organizer, a visionary, a leader, and it's time to meet her now.

[gentle upbeat music] ♪ ♪ ♪ - [Joe] At the risk of welcoming someone to their own home, (Connie laughs) I wanna welcome former state senator and current executive director at KVCR.

You know?

The station you're watching this on?

- Yes!

- Connie Leyva!

Hi!

- Hi, Joe.

It's great to be with you!

(laughs) - How are you doing?

- I'm doing awesome.

- I just kinda wanna sit and catch up 'cause we're cool like that.

- [Connie] Let's do it.

Yes.

(chuckles) - This is really amazing for a lot of reasons, and we'll talk about all that.

But, let's go to the drill and just act like you're just a normal, extraordinary guest- - [Connie] You got it.

- [Joe] That's never seen the show before.

- [Connie] You got it!

- We'll just act along, play along.

Tell me about what got you involved.

You were a state senator for eight years and did some other things in leadership before getting there.

What was your aha moment, moments that got you on the way to doing that?

- So, I would say there is a distinct moment, but there are also moments.

When I was in the labor movement, we always worked to elect pro-labor candidates.

So, I feel like I worked on a lot of campaigns.

When I was growing up, my parents always took us with them to vote.

So, I just always knew the importance of politics, the importance of civic engagement.

But, probably the aha moment for me was when I was working at UFCW Local 1428, and I was the president.

I got a call from the then-mayor of Pomona, and he said, "Connie Leyva, I'm running for state senate and I want your support."

And I said, "Oh, alright.

Let me get back to you."

And, I hung up and I thought, "Dear God, this man is drunk or high at every event I've seen him at.

He cannot be our state senator."

And, I remember driving home, I was on the 10 freeway, from a meeting, and I just thought, "maybe it's me.

Maybe I should do it."

And, went home and talked to my favorite husband, and he's like, "Let's do it."

And, I said "okay."

I said, "Well?

Big pay cut, "10 times more we'll pay for our benefits, no pension, and I have to live in Sacramento four days a week."

And, he said, "Dear God, why do you wanna do this job?"

(Joe laughs) And, I said, "Because I think I can make a difference."

And, that's where it started.

I was lucky enough to win my first time out.

- Wow, and make a difference you did.

- [Connie] Thank you.

- You were on the state senate for eight years.

Tell us about the ups and downs, the things that you're most proud of and the takeaways from being in public service that way.

- I think I would start with what I've learned and some of the lessons learned, and I think they're really bigger life lessons.

And, it's really that you need to work with people and that relationships matter.

I think sometimes people get to a certain point in their life, and they think that, "oh, I know everything.

"I've reached this point.

I can do it on my own."

We can't do anything on our own in life, and especially in politics.

If you wanna be successful, you really have to create those friendships.

You have to create a trust.

Your word is your bond.

And, as long as people know that what you say is what you mean, I think you'll be very successful.

Some of the things I'm most proud of: the environmental work we did, a lot of work on women's issues, a lot of work on children's issues.

I could list all the bills that we did.

We had 55 bills signed into law.

But, I don't wanna bore your viewers, Joe, because you fall in love with your bills!

People told me not to, but you have to.

You have to fall in love with your bill or you're not gonna be passionate and get it to the governor's desk.

- So, fast forward.

You get to a point, you're minding your own business (Connie laughs) and you hear from KVCR.

- Yeah!

- How does this happen?

- So, I get a phone call.

I decide not to run for my second term, or, excuse me, my third term because I just-- You wanna leave on top, and I felt like I'd done a lot of good work and I was just tired.

So, I decided not to run again.

And, I get a call asking me to apply for this job.

And, I said, "Well?

I've been on radio.

"I've been on TV, but I don't really know anything about running a radio or a TV show."

And I was told, "well, "but you have something we are lacking, "which is the community engagement "and the people that you know "and being able to get the community involved with KVCR, all the work that you did in education."

Because we do, KVCR does sit on San Bernardino Valley College campus.

So, how do we engage the students more?

And, I thought, "well, "if those are the things you're looking for, I might be your person."

So, interviewed and was lucky enough to get the job, and I've been here almost a year now.

- Wow, that's amazing.

So, tell us about continuing on the playing field as you saw it for KVCR, and the things that you came in-- the goals that you developed, et cetera, in terms of what you wanted to do at this place.

- So, coming into KVCR, I felt like we have just this amazing opportunity right now.

Public media is so different from regular media.

We're not MSNBC.

We're not Fox News.

No spin.

Public media means you're just gonna get the truth.

You're just gonna get the facts.

And, I thought, "wow, what an amazing opportunity that I can be here at this time."

And, I thought, "maybe this is how I can help get messages out to people."

Because an informed populace is a better populace, and an engaged community is a better community.

And, here in the Inland Empire, we do have a news desert.

And everything that gets covered on TV, on local channels is about LA.

The example I used is last year when Karen Bass was getting elected mayor of LA.

Fantastic.

She's a great lady.

She is doing a great job.

But, right here in San Bernardino, we had the first Vietnamese person in the history of our country getting elected to mayor, Mayor Helen Tran.

No one covered that.

So, I see that as an opportunity for us here.

We are building our newsroom right now.

We've added some folks.

We have a long ways to go.

But also, how do we create local content?

How do we make sure people see themselves in media, see their families?

We created a show, "IE Latino Voices," and it has become even more popular than we ever thought it would be.

People love seeing things about people who look like them.

And, I think that's just a natural human instinct.

So, getting to do all of those things and growing the opportunities for people here on staff is fantastic.

Working with the school, the Institute of Media Arts, and bringing students in so that they can learn about the media and they can go get a good job.

I could go on and on, Joe.

There's so many opportunities, and it's my honor to be here.

- There's the "what": the things that you're trying to do; and then, there's the "how"!

And somehow, this idea came up for a local show that would be IE-specific, but would allow folks to be informed about some things that were connected to what you saw was missing in your public service.

Talk about that and merge that public service for us, or what you saw was missing in terms of what people knew or didn't know to "Inland Edition."

- So, "Inland Edition" is a show that started during COVID before I was here, and we needed to remake it.

And, something I learned in my eight years in the Senate, I am convinced that people have no clue what their elected officials do at all levels of government.

So, I thought, "what if we reinvented the show "and we had people on all levels of government so that people could understand what it is?"

"What does my mayor do?

What does my supervisor do?

"What does a controller of California do?

The superintendent of public instruction?"

Because, knowledge is power.

And, I hope also that it will get people civically engaged, and they'll say, "Oh, that's what a mayor's supposed to do?

"I should probably be voting for this person because I think this person is gonna help my city."

I've been so impressed with all of the guests that we've had on, people I've known and worked with for years.

But, every single one of them that you interviewed, Joe, you get something out of them that I did not know!

Yes!

(chuckles) And, I really hope that all of our viewers feel that way and I hope that people walk away, and it's non-partisan.

And, people walk away and say, "Huh?

Government is important."

- The notion of civic engagement, right?

- Yes.

- That's one of the things that we certainly try to encourage on the show.

Sometimes as life happens, it makes you less engaged.

- [Connie] Yes.

- Right?

- Yes!

- And-?

Tell us how you see that.

- So, I think as people have gotten busier, I just think of my own life and what it was like when I was younger.

And then, as I've gotten older, we've raised our children.

Life has just gotten busier for everyone.

In some regards, life has gotten harder for people.

People are still working a couple of jobs just to make ends meet, just to make sure there's food on the table.

The busier you get, a lot of times the last thing on your mind is going to vote, or civic engagement.

And, I would say to people who are really busy and maybe not that civically engaged, find that person in your family or in your circle of friends who's gonna help corral everybody.

Because so many people also say to me, "Oh, my vote doesn't count.

It's just one vote."

Not true; that one vote counts.

Years ago when I ran for president of my local union, I got a tie with the last vote.

So, I tell people-- We got to rerun it, and I won.

But, I tell people that one vote matters.

But if you think it doesn't, find 10 people who vote like you, and all of you vote.

So, I think it's organizing people and also just giving people examples on why it's so important to vote, and why it's so important to support people who think like you or support the notion of good jobs or air quality.

I don't care for propositions.

California, we do way too many propositions.

But, I tell people when you're watching TV, and you see this commercial to vote one way or another on a proposition, look at who it's paid for by.

Because, that will inform you as to how you wanna vote.

Do you like big oil?

Do you like the air quality group?

If the group that sponsored it is someone who's in line with your values, then you're probably gonna wanna do what they're asking you to do.

But, if not?

Might not be what you wanna vote for.

- Mmm.

One of the things that I think is amazing, and I've lived in the area for a long time.

And I've been to the campus, San Bernardino Valley College, et cetera, but one thing I did not know, these facilities are "fire," as the kids would say!

(Connie laughs) - Thank you!

- Talk to me about what people would need to know about the capabilities that we have here through the facilities and through the technology.

- [Connie] That's a great question, Joe.

We are so lucky here at KVCR.

Back in 2019, just before COVID, there was a complete remodel of our studio, the studio we're sitting in; on the radio side.

All of our equipment is state-of-the-art.

Everything was replaced.

I joke and say, "when you "tell people you're on a college campus, they probably think we're stuck in a classroom somewhere."

And, we've probably had more tours in the last 11 months that I've been here than they maybe had since KVCR existed, because I want people to see what we're about.

And, I say we're a hidden gem.

But, we can do just about anything here.

And, my hope is, is that we will really continue to engage the community, bring the community in, tell their stories so that people see what's happening around them.

- [Joe] It's amazing to me.

We were talking about this a bit.

You used the term "desert", and I think you may have said media desert or something.

- I think I did!

- I forget what it was!

But, the idea-- And, I guess I'm paying attention to this a lot because my daughter's in journalism now, and she's in a small city or whatever else, and she's in a city that's a whole lot smaller than San Bernardino, and there's no NBC affiliate in San Bernardino.

- Right.

- Talk about what can we hope for in terms of how KVCR, and what KVCR does could potentially lay the groundwork for something bigger and a companion to make it to this area, so that we're not such an information and media desert.

- Absolutely.

So, we are building our newsroom, which is the radio side.

And, we go live in the morning with "Morning Edition," we go live midday, and we go live in the evening.

So, we are gonna continue to grow that.

That's where we're finding our stories.

We've got our reporters out there reporting on what's happening in all the cities in the Inland Empire.

My dream is that we will have a TV station.

That would be a lot of money and that would be a big undertaking.

But, to me, that's when I'll know we have really made it at KVCR.

It's not gonna happen tomorrow; it's not gonna happen next year.

It's gonna take a number of years to build that.

But, to me, that is the pinnacle of what we owe this area.

We owe the community the right to know what's happening in their community.

It shouldn't just be about LA.

It shouldn't be just NBC or ABC.

So, my hope is, is that we will build KVCR.

We're already a trusted news source.

But, have people turn us on at 5:00 AM in the morning, and whoever our newscaster is, is talking about what happened overnight, what's happening coming up.

And then, throughout the day, we'll be broadcasting what's happening in the Inland Empire.

The Inland Empire is an amazing place with amazing people.

So that's the goal, Joe.

- Right.

Yeah, that's a pretty good goal.

You have such a connection to education because you did it on the state Senate.

- [Connie] Yeah.

- And, here you are in an educational environment, right?

- Yes, yes!

- And so, talk a bit about the opportunities, not just KVCR, but also this campus and this area present for people to be connected to education, to be educated, and to be prepared for the jobs for the future.

- Yes, education is huge to me.

It is the great equalizer.

As the chair of Senate Education, I learned so much about education; where we're doing it well, where we're not doing it so well.

Community college has always been in my heart.

I started at Mount Sac many, many years ago and I always say I took my best English class there.

I got my first paper back; there was so much red on it, I just sat there and cried!

(Joe laughs) But then, I embraced it and said, "You're here to learn."

So, I just think of community colleges as the gateway to opportunity.

So, for me, being on the campus of a community college is probably kind of a dream come true.

And, I look at the students and I see the students that are coming from the IMA and coming through KVCR, and they're just inspiring.

I'm thinking of a few of them now, and they're so excited.

And, if we can be a part of that here at KVCR, to help them achieve the goals that they wanna achieve, that gets me excited every day.

We just hired a community engagement manager, and she starts tomorrow actually.

And, she will be helping us to engage the students more, so that-- You know?

We get about six interns a semester.

That's just not enough.

We need to be having these kids pouring through here, these young people, some even not so young.

We just have an opportunity to change their lives, and they change our lives, too.

And, the leadership at San Bernardino Valley College has changed in the last couple years.

And, the chancellor, the executive vice chancellor, they are just 1,000% committed to our young people, to the students.

But, we also learn so much from them.

- Related question: what do you see as the unchartered territories in education, and how community college and just alternative forms of education, maybe not necessarily right away, if at all.

You know?

The four-year college campus experience.

What do you see as some of those alternative ways that folks can get educated and how a setting like this fits into that?

- [Connie] So, education has changed so much, as everybody knows.

When I graduated high school and started at Mount Sac, I was working full-time at Alpha Beta grocery store.

I could pay my own tuition.

I did still live at home.

My parents couldn't afford to pay my tuition, so I paid for it.

But, I had a good union job.

And, I think that has changed tremendously in education now.

We see students struggling at all levels, but especially in our community colleges.

They're here; they want to get an education.

They want to learn something so that they can support themselves, support their families.

So, I think what we have learned is that we have to be here for them.

Wraparound services; we have to have everything for them so that they can be successful.

And, I've always been a huge fan of career technical education, and coming to a community college and getting your nursing degree; getting a degree so that you can go work in film or television; getting a certificate.

I feel that maybe community colleges are going to start going more in that direction.

You will always have young people who come, they get their AA, and then they go to a four-year school, and that's great.

But, I think we have to provide more real-time opportunities.

People are hungry today.

People need a good job today.

So, I think community colleges are gonna make that transition.

There's a lot of them to make that transition, but we really have to look to the future.

So, I think really to answer your question shortly, we need things that are gonna help people get a good job today.

They can't always wait for four years.

- Mm hm.

So, let's talk about resources, because one of the things-- One of my songs that I always recall back to!

One of our mutual friends who's an officeholder?

About fundraiser time, I always say "no romance without finance!"

(laughs) - Touché!

- Tell me about the never-ending quest for resources- - Yes!

- as it pertains to funding the mission of KVCR in the context of community college, what you wanna do, what you wanna do long term.

- Yes.

- And, facilitating the vision that you have for it.

- Great question.

So, we do completely self-fund here at KVCR.

We are a member-driven organization.

And so, we have an amazing opportunity.

Some of the bigger PBS stations up and down the state, throughout the country, about 60% to 70% of their income is based on their membership.

For us here at KVCR, it's only 10%.

So, I see that as a golden opportunity for us to grow that.

And, we also apply for grants, many different kinds of grants.

And, grants are wonderful, but grants come with strings attached.

So, if we can find funding that can help us grow our mission, that's gonna help us, in my opinion, to be-- just to be able to do more.

But, we have to be resourceful.

Every day I'm thinking of "how do we raise more money?

"How do we do different things so that we bring the money in?

How do I do that so I can grow my staff?"

As we do more of our own TV shows and our radio shows, we need more staff to do that.

And, I always love the idea of giving people an opportunity, but we are always looking for funding, always looking for ways to raise money.

But, I think that's definitely my responsibility, and it's about making people believe in what you do.

So, how do I make sure people believe and feel passionate about public media like I do?

And, you can only do that by showing them.

That's why we bring people in.

We give them tours.

We go to events; we talk to them.

A lot of times people are like, "KVCR?

What is KVCR?"

"Channel 24; check us out.

91.9 FM; check us out."

So, it's my job to create that enthusiasm and that excitement, and I think the money will follow.

- So we know, Connie, that you're only 30 years old!

(laughs) - God bless you, Joe!

- We're there!

What would you tell your 22-year-old self about public service that you wish you knew?

- I think when I was younger, I was a little more selfish.

But, when I became a mom at 25, you learn very quickly that you can't be selfish.

So, I'd say at 22, what I wish I would've told myself is "get involved younger."

I didn't get involved, like I said, until I went to my local union.

And, I was 27 when I did that.

So, not too far along.

But, I also always would tell my younger self to be more confident.

I think when you're growing up, you kind of wish you were like this person, or like that person.

I always tell young people, "no, be you.

"God made you just the way you are.

"Be you, and you're gonna be successful in whatever you do by just being yourself."

But, I would also say the best public servants have had a career before they got into politics, and it makes you a little more well-rounded.

Doesn't have to be that way, but I think it's helpful.

- What would you tell the big guys?

Those that we may see on television.

Some of whom you know.

What are they missing up there that you would like them to see that hopefully can inspire them to be that much more focused, that much more intentional about it being more clear- - Yeah.

- that what they're doing is benefiting us?

- "Don't forget where you came from."

I think that people get elected, they forget who they were.

Or, some people I've seen get elected and they're embarrassed by who they were.

Your story is who you are.

It doesn't matter if you didn't grow up with means, if you grew up poor, if you grew up on food stamps.

None of that matters.

That's part of you.

That's the fabric of who you are.

And, I think I would tell some of the folks that have forgotten that, "remember who you are and don't ever be afraid to do the right thing."

- That's great.

So, I oughta thank you, give you your flowers 'cause (Connie laughs) for the kid with Arsenio Hall dreams, I always wanted to be a lawyer, but I always wanted to connect the law with the media.

And so, you givin' a call to me for this opportunity, which is a product that we're all very, very proud of.

- Yes!

- And, I tell you.

I got people walkin' up to me in the supermarket.

- [Connie] Yes!

- I got people, like, "Hey, I just wanted to let you know I saw the show.

I really like it."

So, I thank you for giving me the opportunity because it's an outgrowth of- - Very happy to.

- our public service- - Yep!

- our collective public service, as well as our community engagement and community involvement.

Because, I think that whatever you do in the community, you have to let folks know that you're here- - Yes.

- and your first role is as a member.

That's why I introduce myself as an Inland Empire resident- - Yep!

- as someone that's local, in the idea that maybe somebody trusts me more in my day-to-day work just a little bit more just because we have this opportunity here.

- You bet, Joe.

- I have you to thank for that.

- Well, you were my first call!

- See?

- I knew.

I'm like, "This is the guy.

He'll be great!"

(Joe laughs) So, thank you.

- [Joe] Yeah.

Well?

You're welcome.

And, I thank you too, because...I had told you the story before, how when I told my wife about this, she started laughin' at me, and I got really-- I got really insecure.

I'm like, "Now, look.

Now, what's going on here?"

She goes, "That's so you."

- It is so you!

- [Joe] That's so you.

- [Connie] That's great.

- Guilty as charged.

- Well, you haven't let us down one bit.

- Well, thank you.

I appreciate you being here, and you coming and coming and sittin' in the chair.

This kinda had to happen!

Like-?

- Yeah!

(Connie laughs) - The stars had to kinda align!

You were all humble and whatnot like you didn't wanna do this.

(Connie laughs) But, no.

I think we needed to do this.

- We needed to do this.

Absolutely!

And, really, for me part of it is to thank everyone who's watched, thank everyone who's bought into the concept.

And, I hope everybody's going away a little bit smarter after they watch us.

- Well, thanks to our executive director - [Connie] Thank you.

- with the most; KVCR, Connie Leyva, thanks for doing the show for us.

- Oh, Joe.

Thanks for having me.

This was so much fun.

- So, we wanna thank you all again for watching us.

Keep watching us!

Let folks know.

You can catch us on YouTube.

You can catch us in the KVCR app if you don't catch us on this show, when it normally runs on our local channel 24.

But, until then, let's keep building bridges one conversation at a time.

Joe Richardson, and Connie Leyva, saying see you next time.

Thanks.

[uplifting music and vocals] ♪ ♪ [softer music] ♪ ♪ ♪ [music fades]