BREAKING: California is attempting to make history by electing the first registered sex offender into office

Summary

Garage Logic: “BREAKING: California is attempting to make history by electing the first registered sex offender into office”

Date: February 27, 2026
Hosts: Chris Reivers & Mike Fratelloni
Network: Gamut Podcast Network

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Episode Overview

This "potpourri" episode of the Weekly Scramble Podcast, a spinoff of Garage Logic, features hosts Chris Reivers and Mike Fratelloni diving into a rapid-fire discussion on current social, political, and business news, weaving in their characteristically irreverent, forthright commentary. The episode’s primary theme revolves around the state of contemporary “tribal” politics, corporate virtue signaling, the decline of downtown Minneapolis, and the surprising news out of California—a registered sex offender is running for city office. The show balances sharp social critique with personal anecdotes, humor, and some exasperated nostalgia for “common sense.”

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Corporate Pandering & McDonald’s Germany Ramadan Campaign

[03:11 – 10:53]

• McDonald’s Ramadan Ad Campaign: Mike highlights McDonald’s Germany launching a campaign where their daylight billboards showed empty food containers during Ramadan as a gesture to fasting Muslims. At sundown, the ads revert to showing delicious food.
  • Fratelloni questions the logic: “Muslims eat Halal, so they can't eat at McDonald's anyways ... What possibly, pray tell, could make McDonald's be thinking to say, hey, there's 6 million Muslims in Germany. None of them are our customers because we don't serve halal food.” [03:40]
• Chris adds: The move reflects a prevailing societal trend to cater to the “most easily offended” groups, even when there is little business rationale (i.e., most observant Muslims can't eat there). [04:49]
• Discussion on Pandering vs. Business Sense:
  • Mike contrasts this with McDonald's missing an opportunity to cater to Germany’s large Catholic population during Lent by promoting Filet-O-Fish. “Why wouldn't you say happy Lent instead of having a happy Ramadan time, say happy Lent and show filet of fishes on every digital board...” [06:21]
• Inclusivity vs. Economic Sense: Both agree on inclusivity being fine—if it translates to actual customers—but critique the “tribal” nature of modern advertising and public discourse.
• Discussion gets broader: Chris voices frustration at the climate where raising questions is labeled as “Islamophobic” and laments that society always has to “watch what we say so that we may or may not offend someone.” [08:37]
• Notable Quote:
  • “I'm a live and let live guy. Don't force your agenda down my throat and we'll be cool.” —Chris Reivers [09:37]

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2. Breaking News: Registered Sex Offender Runs for California Office

[11:00 – 18:20]

• Transition to California Story: Chris announces serious news: “California is attempting to make history by electing the first ever registered sex offender into office in Fresno.” [11:35]
• Rene Campos Candidacy:
  • Campos, running for Fresno City Council, says he’s rehabilitated and his personal experience with the legal system makes him fit for office. However, he would still be legally barred from entering school property or being around children if elected. [11:49–12:18]
  • Chris underscores there is no CA law preventing registered sex offenders from running for office. [12:20]
• Mike’s Shock & Political Framing:
  • Mike expresses disbelief: “Please, God, tell me that whoever's running against him won't say, hey, FYI, ladies, children, gentlemen, he's a convicted child molester. Maybe we should not even have him out in the public. Nonetheless, running our city.” [13:12]
  • After clarification, Campos is a Democrat, which Chris and Mike frame as symptomatic of the “tribal” politics they lament.
• Rehabilitation and Boundaries: Discussion about second chances, the limits of rehabilitation, especially concerning sex offenses, and the appropriateness of holding public office afterward. [14:39–15:40]
• Memorable Reaction:
  • Chris, exasperated: “What is wrong with people?” [15:40]
• Humorous Aside: The story is so bizarre it’s near-impossible to segue back to light-hearted ads or topics. [15:42]

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3. Decline of Downtown Minneapolis & Target’s Corporate Exit

[18:50 – 33:32]

• Target’s Lease Buyout: Target paid $110 million to exit their lease ten years early at downtown Minneapolis’ City Center, vacating nearly 1 million square feet—an economic and psychological blow to the city. [18:50]
  • Chris is critical of blaming the “pandemic” for the decline, arguing it’s more about long-term administrative neglect and failure to bring workers back downtown. [19:48–21:47]
  • “Wake up. This is not. This has nothing to do with COVID. This is because both of your downtowns ... has been so bungled administratively...” —Chris Reivers [21:47]
• Impact on Local Economy: With both Target and Hennepin Healthcare (now nearly insolvent) fleeing or struggling, the city’s employment and business tax base is collapsing.
• Building Values and "The Great Reset": Mike describes the likely cycle in which buildings sold for hundreds of millions will now be bought by speculators for a few million, massively reducing property tax revenue and pushing local governments to try raising residential taxes. [25:57–28:19]
• Real Estate Deep Dive:
  • Mike breaks down how empty office towers are valued and sold—“You can't value the building on the income approach because it has no income. ... Now a speculator comes in and says, I'll give you a dime on the dollar.” [27:08]
  • Chris reminisces about interning in City Center and laments its fall: “Now that building is a piece of crap that's worth nothing. It just bums me out. It absolutely bums me out.” [32:07]
• Tax Spiral and Public Policy:
  • “Socialism is great until you run out of everybody else's money. We're there. We are out of everybody else's money.” —Chris Reivers [34:10]
  • Mike discusses how cities will be forced to reassess property at its new, lower market value, slashing tax revenue and likely leading to a painful local fiscal reckoning. [35:04–35:57]

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4. Real Estate Woes and the Dream of Entrepreneurship

[35:57 – 40:29]

• Chris's Gas Station Dream: Chris shares a personal dream of owning and reviving an abandoned lakeside gas station business, only to realize prohibitive back taxes and county policies make it impossible, depriving the area of economic activity. [36:57]
• Mike on Environmental Regulations: Even if you buy something cheap, environmental regulations (underground tanks, contaminated sites, old dry cleaners) can make it a huge risk. [39:20]
• Memorable Moment:
  • “There aren't deals out there like that because the moment it becomes logical, someone buys it, right?” —Mike Fratelloni [39:20]

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5. End-of-Episode Levity and Banter

[40:45 – End]

• Desire for Escape: Chris reflects on the heaviness of daily negative news, wishing for respite.
• “Be a Man” Joke Sequence: In their signature tongue-in-cheek tone, Mike proclaims, “We don’t look in a mirror and put on chapstick. We might use chapstick, but we surely aren’t looking in a mirror to do it, right. That’s what men do.” [41:02]
• Pun Interlude: Chris delivers a dad joke: “There’s a woman selling batteries in the park. She sells C cells down by the seesaw.” [41:36]
• Show Wrap: Quick thanks to listeners, encouragement for show ratings and reviews, and some shared laughter.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Why wouldn't you say happy Lent instead of ... happy Ramadan and show filet of fishes...”
  — Mike Fratelloni [06:21]
• “I'm a live and let live guy. Don't force your agenda down my throat and we'll be cool.”
  — Chris Reivers [09:37]
• “California is attempting to make history by electing the first ever registered sex offender into office…”
  — Chris Reivers [11:35]
• “Maybe we should not even have him out in the public. Nonetheless, running our city.”
  — Mike Fratelloni [13:12]
• “What is wrong with people?”
  — Chris Reivers [15:40]
• “Wake up. This is not. This has nothing to do with COVID. This is because both of your downtowns … has been so bungled administratively...”
  — Chris Reivers [21:47]
• “Socialism is great until you run out of everybody else's money. We're there. We are out of everybody else's money.”
  — Chris Reivers [34:10]
• “You can't value the building on the income approach because it has no income ... Now a speculator comes in and says, I'll give you a dime on the dollar.”
  — Mike Fratelloni [27:08]
• “There aren't deals out there like that because the moment it becomes logical, someone buys it, right?”
  — Mike Fratelloni [39:20]

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:11 – 10:53: McDonald’s Germany Ramadan campaign & corporate pandering
• 11:00 – 18:20: California sex offender candidate discussion
• 18:50 – 33:32: The Minneapolis commercial real estate collapse & Target exit
• 35:57 – 40:29: Real estate entrepreneurship, regulatory hurdles, personal dreams
• 40:45 – 41:52: Banter, levity and closing jokes

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Tone and Language

The episode brims with candid, no-nonsense talk, peppered with humor, sarcasm, and a dose of nostalgia. Chris embodies the “live and let live” libertarian sentiment, while Mike brings practical business acumen and a skepticism of political and corporate virtue signaling. The language throughout is colloquial and opinionated, aiming to blend real news discussion with entertainment and personal experience.

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Summary for New Listeners

This potpourri episode of Garage Logic/Weekly Scramble offers a wide-ranging, irreverent deep dive into cultural and economic issues making headlines—from bizarre political candidacies to the collapse of urban commercial real estate. With biting commentary, real-world analogies, and plenty of humor, Chris Reivers and Mike Fratelloni dissect why "common sense" seems scarce in business, politics, and policy—pulling no punches and providing a lively primer on the news at the crossroads of the absurd and the impactful.

Transcript

[Chris Reivers]

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[Mike Fratelloni]

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[Chris Reivers]

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[Mike Fratelloni]

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[Chris Reivers]

And

[Mike Fratelloni]

this is the Weekly Scramble, a place where we chat about life over a cold one or two.

[Chris Reivers]

It's time to belly up to the

[Mike Fratelloni]

pod with Mike Fratelloni and your host, Chris Reivers.

[Chris Reivers]

That's right, it's time for the weekly Scramble Podcast. My name is Chris Reivers. With me as always. His name is Mike Fredaloni. Hello Michael.

[Mike Fratelloni]

How you doing, Reavers? I just had A Royce, like, gas attack. So I'm glad you didn't go to me right off the bat.

[Chris Reivers]

Well, I'm glad I did. Not as well. Here's the deal. We're going to call this, as I'm trying to edit one thing very, very quickly.

[Mike Fratelloni]

The potpourri.

[Chris Reivers]

We're going to call this the potpourri episode of the weekly scramble podcast. And I'm going to tell you why there's so much ass to talk about. I don't even seriously know where to begin.

[Mike Fratelloni]

I'm with you.

[Chris Reivers]

So here's the deal. You have a lot of stuff to get to. I have a lot of stuff to get to. We're going to get there together. But one of the things I wanted to start with is a story that I'm glad that you reminded me. And we go to. Is it Germany?

[Mike Fratelloni]

Germany.

[Chris Reivers]

Let's go to Germany right now. And our correspondent, Mike Fratelloni.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Okay, so here's an interesting story, and I found this super perplexing. So McDonald's, Germany, right? So it's the German version of McDonald's. It's McDonald's, but in Germany removed food from their digital billboards during daylight hours as part of a Ramadan campaign, right?

[Chris Reivers]

Oh, sure. Okay.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Which is nice.

[Chris Reivers]

Can't eat unless the sun goes down, and you can't drink any fluids or anything like that, Right?

[Mike Fratelloni]

So they said, what we're gonna do is on the daytime billboards, we'll have an empty container of fries, an empty Big Mac container, and then as soon as it gets dark, we're gonna tempt people back to McDonald's with food back in the visuals, right? You'll see beautiful fries and a quarter Po or a Royale with cheese or whatever they call it in Germany. Right? So then I got to thinking, wait, you're doing this for Muslims who are observing Ramadan, but Muslims eat Halal, so they can't eat at McDonald's anyways. So what possibly, pray tell, could make McDonald's be thinking to say, hey, there's 6 million Muslims in Germany. None of them are our customers because we don't serve halal food, and 90% of Muslims prefer to eat halal. So it really narrows down the amount of Muslims that eat at McDonald's in America or the rest of the world? Reivers, can you explain to me what McDonald's might be thinking to try to placate to Muslims during Ramadan? Yet Muslims aren't their customers because McDonald's is not halal.

[Chris Reivers]

I will even expand upon that because I don't know who made the executive decision, because I certainly wasn't asked, and I don't think a lot of other people were certainly asked, why we continue to cater to a section of our society where they're the most easily offended. They're the ones that expect that we're supposed to cater to all of their wills, all of their demands, all of their ways of life, but yet won't respect anybody else's opinion or ways of life.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Let me go on record, I am not agreeing with where you're going.

[Chris Reivers]

But I'm just saying I don't get this because again, I'm going to absolve you. I don't understand why we just as the fabric of us, meaning the grander scale of us, why we just decided that this is just how we're supposed to go about our way of life. And the reason I bring this up is, and I'll bring up what's going on here with fraud. Why is it that when I call that out, that makes me an Islamophobe?

[Mike Fratelloni]

Sure.

[Chris Reivers]

And that's the part again with this. I didn't. I'm not. If you wanna observe that, by all means, go ahead.

[Mike Fratelloni]

I don't have a. I'm really clearing myself from you cuz I don't agree with you. You pick the way you say it. I pick the way I say it. I'm not mad that McDonald's is doing this thing for Ramadan. I just don't get why they would. Because that's not their damn.

[Chris Reivers]

They're pandering.

[Mike Fratelloni]

But pandering? Pander to your damn customers. Let me give you an example of someone who to pander to. Okay? In Germany, 20 to 21 million or 25% of Germans are Catholic. Lent happens during Catholic eve. A filet o fish. Why wouldn't you say happy Lent instead of having a happy Ramadan time, say happy Lent and show filet of fishes on every digital board. And get 20 to 21 million or 25% of your population saying I'm gonna go buy a filet o fish on Friday because McDonald's has great filet o fishes.

[Chris Reivers]

Well, you. You understood filet of fishes? Yes. You understand why they're doing that though, right?

[Mike Fratelloni]

I have honest to God reverse. I have no concept why you would advertise I can help you to a group of people that doesn't eat your food.

[Chris Reivers]

You're trying in 2026 as a business, as a massive corporation, one of the largest brands in the entire free world. You're trying to do this Straight down the middle. I don't want to offend this side. I don't want to offend that.

[Mike Fratelloni]

That's not straight down the middle. They're not their customers. I don't give two shits what people eat. It's none of my business. If you want to not eat during the day and eat at night and you only want halal, God bless you. I don't care. But why is a company wasting advertising dollars to placate and say, we're so sweet to you. And by the way, if you're hungry, you can come have some. It's not halal food. They won't eat it. What are you wasting your time for? But Germany. McDonald's Germany doesn't have a happy Lent program that could service 24% of the population of Germany. I don't get what they're thinking. It's so damn weird.

[Chris Reivers]

Where are you on filet o fish?

[Mike Fratelloni]

I love a good filet o fish.

[Chris Reivers]

I actually do, too.

[Mike Fratelloni]

I will accidentally, during Lent, buy one sometimes on a Friday.

[Chris Reivers]

And you're a devote Catholic and I'm a Catholic.

[Mike Fratelloni]

But I want to make this clear. I don't care if you're Muslim. It's none of my damn business. Be whatever you want to be. But why would a company say, let's run ads that make people feel inclusive? Okay, I can see that you want to make people feel inclusive, but it would be kind of nice if they also ate your food so you could do more business.

[Chris Reivers]

I'm trying to find what I hear. I think I found it. I think I found it. And I've been having issues with my phone today, so I apologize to everybody. I don't want to read that. It gets too heavy. But it had to do with what you were just bringing up. That's the problem that I continue to find myself. I don't care. I don't understand why we have wandered in to the deep end of the pool here, where we always have to watch what we say so that we may or may not offend someone that doesn't have the same belief system that we do. I'm a live and let live guy. Don't force your agenda down my throat and we'll be cool. I have so many friends who I don't agree with politically. I have so many friends where they choose to live their life one way and I choose to live my life my way. And that's fine. That's what makes this country great.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Yes.

[Chris Reivers]

Just don't force your agenda down my throat because you Know what that is? That's not accepting. That's not inclusive. You aren't allowing free speech. You are not allowing. Allowing the choice for someone else. You're doing the exact opposite of that. I assume the tribe mentality is what drives me insane.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Yeah. And we have a bit of it on our end, too. We have this different tribe. But what I wonder is, the people that run McDonald's Germany probably are not Muslim. I'd imagine they're not Muslim. And the people that own McDonald's in Germany, they're franchisees. Right. So the franchisor says, we're going to use some of your money to run ads. And how pissed off would you be if you saw these digital ads that said happy ramen on and you'd say, wait, why are we advertising to a group that's not going to eat it? It's like a lobster company saying, hey, it's Hanukkah. Come on in and get your lobsters. Jews don't eat lobster for Hanukkah. They don't eat lobster. It's against their religion. Why would you advertise that unless it's ironic? Do you think they're trying to be ironic? Maybe I'm misunderstanding this whole thing. And it's like an art piece, yet they won't say happy Lent, come get your filet o fish. Because you're going to do it anyways. Because 25 million of you are going

[Chris Reivers]

to eat potpourri show episode of the weekly scrambler podcast. Pick a number between 1 and 5.

[Mike Fratelloni]

4.

[Chris Reivers]

1, 2, 3, 4. We're gonna head to California.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Ooh, I love that state.

[Chris Reivers]

You did okay.

[Mike Fratelloni]

I did.

[Chris Reivers]

You did. Did I? Gavin Newsom is the governor of the state of California.

[Mike Fratelloni]

960Sat. Gavin Newsom.

[Chris Reivers]

That's right. And you know he can't read. Just like the black people he was talking to at that forum.

[Mike Fratelloni]

All black people in Gavin Newsom's eyes are stupid. And so is Gavin Newsom, I guess.

[Chris Reivers]

Michael, California is attempting make history. You'd think. Progress.

[Mike Fratelloni]

What are they gonna do?

[Chris Reivers]

History. This is great. This is not clickbait. This is real.

[Mike Fratelloni]

This is a real story.

[Chris Reivers]

I have verified it. California is attempting to make history by electing the first ever registered sex offender into office in Fresno. City council, please. Oh, school.

[Mike Fratelloni]

It wasn't school board. Shoot. I was for sure thinking it was school board.

[Chris Reivers]

Renee Campo says that he has been given the chance to rehabilitate through the courts and back into the system. Campos also says that it's time to choose somebody outside the box. Somebody who knows the system from inside and out. Because me, I've experienced the laws that we are trying to reform right now. If Rene wins, he still will be prohibited from entering a school site or being around children.

[Mike Fratelloni]

You've got to be kidding me.

[Chris Reivers]

California, Michael. The state of California. Their laws. California state law, excuse me, does not prevent a registered sex offender to run for office.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Okay, I'm fine with that.

[Chris Reivers]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what Democrats have created. It's no longer a joke. This is a story from Action News on ABC something or other in the state of California.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Is he going to win? Ravers? Does it say? Does it give him a chance to win?

[Chris Reivers]

I see the photo of him. There's a video. I'm not gonna play it. I don't wanna hear from this creep.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Well, I'm just trying to figure out. Cause anybody can run for office. I could do it reverse, sure, no problem.

[Chris Reivers]

Lester, you've been asked.

[Mike Fratelloni]

I've been asked by someone in that next room. Just a little 960sat dope like me could do it. Right? So he can run for office. Is he running as a Democrat?

[Chris Reivers]

Yes.

[Mike Fratelloni]

So is really the key. Is there Reivers? Is our Democrats? Are somebody gonna vote for them? Is somebody going to vote for him? Because that would be unbelievably shocking if some magical way that person wins office at a city council. A city council? Is that what it was? Yep. Please, God, tell me that whoever's running against him won't say, hey, FYI, ladies, children, gentlemen, he's a convicted child molester. Maybe we should not even have him out in the public. Nonetheless, running our city.

[Chris Reivers]

But how can you hear what's his name again?

[Mike Fratelloni]

I'm gonna look.

[Chris Reivers]

Rene. R E, N E, E. Hold on. Where's the last name?

[Mike Fratelloni]

Sounds European.

[Chris Reivers]

R E, N E. Last name is Campos. C A, M, P, O, S. And you know what he looks like? He looks like the real you. Remember the movie Aladdin?

[Mike Fratelloni]

I do.

[Chris Reivers]

He looks like the bad guy that tried to get. Is it the bad guy that tried to become the genie?

[Mike Fratelloni]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's kind of who he looks like. I kind of know who you're talking about. Okay, he didn't come up really quickly.

[Chris Reivers]

Okay, here's my point. Tribalism has gotten to a point where you're going to hear someone say, I don't think a sex offender should hold public office. And the opposition would say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's hear this person out. And I'm all for second chances.

[Mike Fratelloni]

I think I am too.

[Chris Reivers]

But no, I'm saying no. There's a.

[Mike Fratelloni]

You know, I do believe in rehabilitation. Sure. I think people can make mistakes.

[Chris Reivers]

I know people very close to me that worked in rehabilitation.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Child molestation, that's a weird thing to be recuperated from. Did they surgically or chemically castrate him?

[Chris Reivers]

I don't know.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Because I'd be like, okay, you've been chemically castrated or surgically castrated. So. And it doesn't say what his crimes were. It just says he's up front about his status as a registered sex offender. The only nice thing is, is everyone is gonna know where he lives. Cause he has to tell the city. He has to declare where he is. He's been rehabilitated through the courts.

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Court systems are great at rehabilitating people. Back in 2018. That's not that long ago when he was accused of. Look it. Charged with being in possession of child sexual abuse material. Charged back in 2018.

[Chris Reivers]

Right.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Holy crap. Ola. What is wrong with people?

[Chris Reivers]

I don't know. And you know what? There's no easy way to transition into an ad. But I wanna remind you folks that we are nuts. And weearnutsmn.com Boy, is that not a euphemism for what's going on in the current state of politics, both in the state of Minnesota and also throughout the entire country. But you know what? It's a wonderful family owned operation making quality handcrafted small batch snack right here in the city of Minneapolis. The original toffee peanuts are an absolute go to right now and so are the giant silos. The cherry trail mix is such a spectacular snack and it's become a favorite of yours truly. But also the milk chocolate almonds, the cinnamon toffee peanuts, the jumbo cashews, it's all there for you. And you can see them at all of your Fratelloni's hardware and garden stores locations, Mac's Hardware, Lundsen, Byerlys, Kowalski's markets, Cub Foods, also at County Market, Coburn's. Oh my goodness. In 700 different quick trip locations. But if you're not able to make it there, go to wearenutsmn.com and place your order today. And please let them know that you heard about them right here on the weekly scramble podcast. Yes, Michael, next story.

[Mike Fratelloni]

I have the it's not next story. It's adding the last.

[Chris Reivers]

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[Mike Fratelloni]

Okay. I've watched this video during the we are not spot, by the way. Brilliant.

[Chris Reivers]

Thank you.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Made me want to go buy some nuts right now.

[Chris Reivers]

But you don't have to. They sell them at your store. That's true.

[Mike Fratelloni]

So Action News ABC 30 has a story that says in the chyron, you know what that is?

[Chris Reivers]

The lead.

[Mike Fratelloni]

It says, registered sex offender seeks counsel seat. And then they go and talk to like 20 different people. But if you're just watching this, you don't know who the registered sex offender is. So all of these people that had made comments about the story saying, a past isn't only your past. You have a future. You can be rehabilitated. Now look like they're all registered sex offenders. Offenders. Note to self, when someone comes up to you and says, would you like to be on TV to discuss a registered sex offender, you should start with, I prefer he's dead. You don't make it something like, oh, he looks rehabilitated. Because then you look like the sex offender.

[Chris Reivers]

Correct.

[Mike Fratelloni]

FYI, carry that forward just in case

[Chris Reivers]

someone asks you popery show. Pick another number between one and four. You already picked number three. Let's head to Minneapolis. Oh, you ready? I've been there. And I don't want to sound like I'm taking glee in any of this because I'm really not. Because I love the city of Minneapolis. I've been in the city of Minneapolis since I graduated from college, and I love my city. You love it. I've worked ever since then. You ready?

[Mike Fratelloni]

Yes.

[Chris Reivers]

After moving out of nearly a million square feet of office space in downtown Minneapolis City center building five years ago, Target Corporation now announced that they have paid $110 million to officially break its lease that ran through 2031. Wow. Now the owner of the 51 story tower at 33 South 6th street, which, by the way, the reason I'm bringing this up is I interned in that building back in 2001. An entity tied to a conglomerate, Samsung, is preparing to list the property for sale. According to a February 2 loan servicer report, Target's decision to downsize was one of the first signs of the pandemic's seismic impact on Office work, I swear to God. And this is from the start. Tribune, Star Tribune. Stop using the pandemic as an excuse and as a crutch as to why all of this is happening.

[Mike Fratelloni]

We're past that now.

[Chris Reivers]

We are way past that now. And you are just as guilty of anybody else. I digress. At the time, Target, which was one of City Center's original tenants when it opened back in 1983, still had more than 10 years left on its lease. The company had last signed a renewal in 2015. The Minneapolis based retailer has continued to pay rent for the offices as they sat dark, making City Center a symbol of the challenges and uncertainties facing a downtown that relied heavily on its white collar commuter crowds. Target did try to sublet the space, but failed to attract tenants beyond law firm Fox Rothschild, which moved into about 40,000 square feet of offices in 2022. A spokesperson for Target declined to comment on the lease ending agreement, but emphasized the company's commitment to downtown Minneapolis.

[Mike Fratelloni]

What do you mean, good one? What commitment is there in downtown Minneapolis?

[Chris Reivers]

The retailer had been downtown's biggest employer for years, but slid below Hennepin Healthcare in 20. Last summer, Target called its largest corporate unit back to the office three days a week to consolidate office space in other downtown properties near its Nicollet Mall headquarters. I get it. I know that they have a decision to make, and I can't blame them for making any of this call. But when do you think the wake up call is gonna happen? And I'm specifically saying this to current members of the Walz administration, Jacob Fry, in some cases in St. Paul, whatever. When will the wait? Because they're always gonna blame something else. In this piece, in 2026, the Star Tribune actually labeled the pandemic as a reason. Wake up.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Yeah, wake up.

[Chris Reivers]

This is not. This has nothing to do with COVID This is because both of your downtowns and the state of Minnesota has been so bungled administratively that. No. Why would any organization of that magnitude choose to do its business from a corporation standpoint anywhere near here?

[Mike Fratelloni]

You know what's crazy is when a company pays off their lease five years ahead of time, they're like, hey, we want to get out of this.

[Chris Reivers]

We're done.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Give us it. We owe you 130 million. We'll give you 110 now and we're out of here. Right?

[Chris Reivers]

We'll call it a day.

[Mike Fratelloni]

They're nervous. They had that decision made years ago where they're never coming back. But I can blame the state of Minnesota, Hennepin county, for not getting their employees back into the offices. Right. If you would have had after Covid because there was time where legitimately you might not have been. We didn't know. No one knew. But when it was over and people passed, you say, hey, everybody, get your asses back to the office, everybody. And it's so unfair to allow some county workers and some city workers not to work from an office when everyone else has to go to an office. Right. And so they're killing their downtown by saying you can do two days a week in the office and three days at home. Bullcrap. Get to the office. You don't work from home if you work from the city of Minneapolis.

[Chris Reivers]

Correct.

[Mike Fratelloni]

And ironically when you talked about that, they said Target was the largest employer next to Hennepin Healthcare. Well, Hennepin Healthcare, if I'm not mistaken, might be insolvent here in the next couple of days. And they might have to, literally, because they don't have any money. So then our second biggest, and now the first biggest employer in the city of Minneapolis is going to be gone. They have to have people at the hospital, by the way. No doctor can work from home. Right. They have to work from the office. And it is. You lost Target. You might lose Hennepin Healthcare. Other places are flying out of downtown. Downtown looks kind of good right now, to tell you the truth. I've been driving around downtown. It looks pretty good. But when you see that these office buildings are empty, something's going to hurt. Something gonna hurt us.

[Chris Reivers]

Here's what I don't understand is why. And we saw it both with this particular story. We saw it with the Trump administration announcing that they're withholding funds because the medic. They're fearful, and these are my words, nobody else's. They're fearful that the Medicaid and Medicare fraud in this state is gonna make feeding our future look like a lemonade stand compared to how bad this is. Which is why JD Vance has basically said, well, I'm coming there. We gotta get to the bottom of this. Right.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Open up the books.

[Chris Reivers]

And they're basically saying, well, the Trump administration is weaponizing no walls and everywhere else. You have to stop with that game because you're not winning that anymore. Sure. This might appease to some of your constituents that are saying, yeah, go get em, this is bad. Well, I'm mad because this is tax money. And right now in the city of Minneapolis, it's been ruined. Sure, it was once. I mean, remember 10 years ago. And I'm just gonna use it as an example, because I was working both here at the station and I was working downtown on the weekends. It was thriving.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Was 17, the Super Bowl?

[Chris Reivers]

Yes, 2017. Okay, it was February of 2018, but it was the 2017football season. And I remember the summer of 2016, just being able to go downtown, it was great. Was safety a concern? Yeah, once in a while, it sure was. But you felt safe, it felt fun, and you could feel energy. None of that exists anymore. None of that exists anymore. And is that okay? Is that a micro. I think so. I think that's a microcosm of how the city operates.

[Mike Fratelloni]

If I'm not mistaken, if you walk

[Chris Reivers]

downtown, Mike, 40% of it is even open anymore.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Sure. Way more than 40%. If I'm not mistaken, the city of Minneapolis, of any major city has had the worst recovery from COVID of any major city in the United States. That's saying something. That is saying something. That we've never recovered. In fact, we haven't even gotten to a recovery. We've gone backwards. While other major cities are getting people back in, demanding that people are back. They're paying the property taxes. Buildings that sold for 250 million aren't selling for 6 million now, which is a legitimate thing that happened in our city. The only thing that I can think of reverse is that there will be a great reset in the city of Minneapolis. All those buildings that once sold for 250 million bucks, someone's going to take a haircut on it and buy it for 6 million. Right. Someone's going to take a $244 million loss, but the person who bought it for 6 million is going to be able to get renters in there because it's going to be able to be so cheap compared to everything else.

[Chris Reivers]

Can I ask something dumb? Because, I mean, I dabble in a little bit of real estate, but you're way more knowledgeable of this than I am.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Well, thank you.

[Chris Reivers]

I don't know. 200 mil for city center. Doesn't that seem like nothing?

[Mike Fratelloni]

Yeah, I mean, will it sell for 200 mil?

[Chris Reivers]

I don't know. That's what I'm asking.

[Mike Fratelloni]

I don't know. I mean, nothing has value when you don't have people in it, right? Because now you're buying it. You know how they price things, right? If you have a bunch of tenants in there, there. You price it on a cap rate. You're like, hey, if I'm bringing in $2 million a month and I sell the building for whatever the Math is, you know, $10 million. Well, then my cap rate's really high. Right. But since you don't have renters, you're selling something. Betting on the come. These are speculators buying things. Right. The guy who bought the building for 6 million bucks says, I can float $6 million plus taxes and maintenance for a while because I believe I can speculate and get people in here because now I can offer them 2 bucks a square foot for rent instead of 25 bucks a square foot for.

[Chris Reivers]

So this $200 million building, if it was to be sold right now, what do you speculate?

[Mike Fratelloni]

I don't know. I mean, it's all empty.

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah, it has.

[Mike Fratelloni]

So you can't value the building on the income approach because it has no income. So now a speculator comes in and says, I'll give you a dime on the dollar, give you 20 million bucks for it. Right. I mean, who knows what it will actually sell?

[Chris Reivers]

But Reivers gets the penthouse. Yeah.

[Mike Fratelloni]

I mean, it is a very difficult thing when you do not have tenants in your building. You are purely speculating on the future of that building. Right.

[Chris Reivers]

Interesting.

[Mike Fratelloni]

And so you have to buy it at a dramatic discount. It would be like buying an apartment building that a 10 unit apartment building and have nine units be empty and they all need work and no one wants to move into that area anymore. And you think, well, if I give, if I make the rent low enough, I might be able to fill it up. Maybe you're speculating that you could. So you wouldn't pay full price. Because why would you. You'd pay full price if all 10 units were rented.

[Chris Reivers]

We need to call.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Who's that?

[Chris Reivers]

Mike Bilski. You know why? With North American banking, he'd give us

[Mike Fratelloni]

a loan for city center.

[Chris Reivers]

100% he would. And he'd say, okay, Reivers is going to take the penthouse. Fratelloni is going to get one floor.

[Mike Fratelloni]

They could put a couple offices in there.

[Chris Reivers]

100%, it's not a bad idea. Banking done differently since 1998. And back then they made a promise to deliver a better banking experience for their customers where you get to know your banker and they also get to know you. You know what, a lot has changed since then, but this commitment to being a true community bank in the Twin Cities, that, ladies and gentlemen, that has not. But you have to see it for yourself. Check them out online. Today it's nabankco.com to learn is banking done differently. It doesn't matter what you're looking to do, whether you're looking to buy a home, perhaps refinance a new home renovation project or get that new car that you've been thinking about. Their experts make everything so easy and also easy to navigate. And you know what? Business owners, their loans are operated right here in the Twin Cities. They're not sent out of state. Why? Because they are locally owned and operated. So you can make decisions quickly. Quickly. And also expand your business with confidence. But see it for yourself. Today it's nabankco.com to learn more. The same updated online and mobile banking tools as all of those other big national banks. Nabankco.com to learn more. Once again, North American banking company member FDIC is an equal housing lender. The weekly scramble. We will be right back.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Shorenstein Properties owns CityCenter. It's a San Francisco based company. They bought CityCenter, I think for 300, $120 million in 2012. Right. They own this piece of property. They just collected $110 million from Target. It's going to go up for sale. I predict it won't sell for anything near $110 million because 900,000 square feet of it is empty. At minimum is because I don't know how many other people are in that building. But if they bought it when it was filled and they paid 320 million for it based on everything being rented. Well, if it's a quarter rent it, you're not gonna get 320 million bucks for it. And you just collected the last 110 million. I bet you it sells for 45 million bucks. I'm making that up. I don't know. No one online has given me a suggested idea of what it's gonna sell for.

[Chris Reivers]

See here I'm picturing I'm gonna buy it and then I'm gonna do like the. Remember the movie Big with Tom Hanks?

[Mike Fratelloni]

Oh, yeah.

[Chris Reivers]

And I'm gonna have a bunk bed and like a swimming pool and a basketball court. I'm gonna do the whole thing right inside the top floor.

[Mike Fratelloni]

So now I even lied to you. So Samsung SRA owns it. It Samsung sra, that's HNA Group continues to shed US Assets to pay off its debt burden. And it's not based in the United States. Right. It's a Chinese transport giant that owns it. Oh my God. We should offer 2 million bucks for city Center. Okay, you throw in a million, I'll throw in a million. Let's get some frat packers to do some work on it.

[Chris Reivers]

When you say we, we should offer

[Mike Fratelloni]

Cheng Feng la hna group.

[Chris Reivers]

Do you take sweat equity as a down payment Money.

[Mike Fratelloni]

You do the window cleaning.

[Chris Reivers]

All right, fine. I'm in.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Okay. Target occupy 90% targeting a 90% occupied tower. Wow, it's so confusing, this story, but I bet you anything this thing is going to become almost worthless.

[Chris Reivers]

And isn't that. Isn't that a shame? Isn't that. I mean, I'm not joking. I internally, I was driving from Mankato. Go Mavericks. Go Mavs. And that's where I had my internship. My first ever job into radio. That's where I interned, was at that building. And I remember thinking, oh, my God, I have made it. I am on the. I don't even remember what floor we were on. It might have been the 10th floor, 15th floor, something like that. Don't remember. And I remember thinking, oh, my God, I am in a. I am now. My boss has an office on the corner, and it, like, overlooks the city, and it's so cool. And I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I was 22 at the time, and I thought this was the coolest thing ever. And now that building is a piece of crap that's worth nothing. It just bums me out. It absolutely bums me out.

[Mike Fratelloni]

City center owners default on $130 million loan. Yet they just collected 110 million from Target. That was April 2, 2025. And it does appear that it's now owned. Currently on. Owned by Samsung SRA Asset Management. And they bought it for 320 million bucks in 2018. And it looks like they just. If you need a deal on a building in Minneapolis, go for it. It's gonna sell for nothing. I don't want to see that happen.

[Chris Reivers]

Could you. Okay, let's take a step further. No, I'm just saying, let's say the Frateloni empire buys something like that. Could you even. Let's just say you opened a hardware store on street level. You wouldn't make any money doing that.

[Mike Fratelloni]

No. No, you wouldn't make any money.

[Chris Reivers]

Nothing less.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Property taxes are probably millions and millions

[Chris Reivers]

of dollars, and you can't. And that's. You're getting back to my point. We can't operate this way. No, you can't keep saying to your constituents, well, we just need to increase property taxes. The joke was years ago on garage lots. Socialism is great until you run out of everybody else's money. We're there. We are out of everybody else's money. You can't keep running a society because again, walls and I don't know if it Was the Richfield mayor, whoever it was, saying how ICE basically tormented all of the small businesses in south Minneapolis and Richfield. And I'm saying, okay, timeout here. I'm not gonna dispute that ICE had an impact on small businesses. But if your entire economic foundation was based upon people here illegally and funding here illegally, that's a bad system and it's not gonna work long term. And you don't get to come crying and whining with your freaking handout and expect the taxpayers once again to bail you out. That's not how it works.

[Mike Fratelloni]

No. And there's some legitimate ARG. You buy this building for 320 million bucks. You sell it for $15 million. The people who bought the building for $15 million go back to the city of Minneapolis and say, hey. Or Hennepin County. Hennepin County. We know we have to pay some property taxes. The building's not worth 320 million. We just paid $15 million for it.

[Chris Reivers]

So you have to assess it at that value.

[Mike Fratelloni]

You have to assess it at that value. The city is going to say no, but they're going to say, well, that was a fair market, arm's length transaction that we bought it for. You could have bought it for 16 million if you wanted to. You didn't. We bought it for 15 million worth $15 million, period. And they have a legitimate argument. So the tax base, let's pretend they were paying $3 million in taxes right on that property. Now, it might be $300,000 in taxes or a million dollars in taxes. You know how many houses you need to increase taxes on when you're not collecting two more million from one building downtown?

[Chris Reivers]

You know what? I never in a million years thought I was going to bring this up. I'm not going to name the city. It's a city that I love. And there is this Jordan, Minnesota. No, it's not Jordan, Minnesota, but it's a city I drive through couple times a month. Right. Because Lord knows I'm driving kids to this basketball game and that. Basketball, whatever. And there's this abandoned gas station that is on lakefront property.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Oh, I like that.

[Chris Reivers]

And this is a gorgeous lake with a ton of recreation and everything. It's gorgeous night. And it's near a. A campground.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Okay.

[Chris Reivers]

And I always thought what I would. That is what I want to do.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Sure.

[Chris Reivers]

I want to own that gas station with that property where I'm facing a gorgeous lake. And I've got. In the summer, I've got nothing but campers and kids on four Wheelers and truckers, you know, drive because it's on a decent stretch of highway.

[Mike Fratelloni]

So you live there too.

[Chris Reivers]

And so. Exactly.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Put a little tent.

[Chris Reivers]

Oh, no. It'd be like one of those fifth wheels that I just park with the deck on the back and I could have my grilling out. Oh, it'd be awesome. And I remember talking to somebody that lives in that area that said the second. Because it's been in foreclosure for a number of years. And the guy that I was talking to said, the second anybody buys that, they owe the county that this piece of property resides in, like, some ungodly amount of money in back taxes and everything else. I thought, what a shame. And what's happening, it's depriving the area of something that could be beneficial to that neighborhood. You know what I'm saying?

[Mike Fratelloni]

Yep. And, you know, many of those cases, the back taxes overvalue the property 100%. Right. So someday it will go. They'll. They'll skip out on the back taxes, or the city will say, we don't need to collect all of this. Let's get it back on the tax rolls and get someone paying for it.

[Chris Reivers]

But it's been like that for years. I mean, a long time. A long, long time. When we're not recording the show, I'll tell exactly it is. But in fact, I just drove by it over the weekend and I thought, what a shame. It was an absolutely picture perfect middle winter, warm, warmish day. And I thought all I could think about was all the guys coming off the lake, ice fishing. I just want to run in and grab a sandwich or whatever. Right. And I'm just thinking, what a shame that something like that can't exist here.

[Mike Fratelloni]

You have something such an entrepreneurial way about you. Reverse. You constantly have business ideas, okay? You gotta do one of these.

[Chris Reivers]

Am I like you with show ideas?

[Mike Fratelloni]

Yeah, you're like me with show ideas.

[Chris Reivers]

But I'm not joking, because I kept thinking. I remember sitting there one day because I just like calm and peace. And I was just looking at this and I counted. I was sitting there for five minutes and I counted 60 cars that drove by this location. I'm not joking. Sure, it was like 58, but I just. I just thought what a freaking shame that something like that can exist.

[Mike Fratelloni]

But you got to remember somebody somewhere owned that and it didn't work for them. Right?

[Chris Reivers]

True.

[Mike Fratelloni]

They had that same concept. They had that same dream, put all their money into it, and it didn't work for them. I mean, granted it could have been closed for so long, the city might have grown up around it where now it's more valuable. But there aren't deals out there like that because the moment it becomes logical, someone buys it, right?

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah, that's true.

[Mike Fratelloni]

The moment the math starts working. And when I think of a gas station, I think, oh, you have a tank that leaks into the water and leaks into the lake and boom, there comes.

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah, maybe there's that.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Yeah, you never know what happened to it. You get a. They have these things.

[Chris Reivers]

We're only selling 87 octanes. Yes, that's it.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Something with a lot of soybeans, oils in it. When you buy something, you have to do these environmental studies, right. And if there's a dry cleaner four blocks away, you have to make sure that that trichloroethylene that the dry cleaner used for years, that makes frogs gay and give them a third leg that that doesn't seep below onto your property. And you have to really pay attention to that. So you have to cores all over the place because you don't want to be a super fun site that you have to clean up later on. That's why if you notice when you're driving around town, you see so many empty dry cleaners because no one's going to buy those properties because they're normally too dirty.

[Chris Reivers]

So that laundromat that I wanted to buy and scoop the quarters and all that stuff.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Yeah, well, laundromats might be a little different. Dry cleaners use different things. They use chemicals, hence dry cleaning. Laundry mats are water and soap. But yes, you have to be very, very careful of that. We're learning a lot today. We're going.

[Chris Reivers]

We're here to educate the mass, aren't we?

[Mike Fratelloni]

Frog getting your frogs gay, right? From forever Chemicals. I thought that's what they said. I mean, that's a legitimate thing. I'm not making that up. No, that is not just a funny, funny line. That's what happened with trichloroethylene, if I'm not mistaken.

[Chris Reivers]

I did not. I did. I guess I did not know this.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Pretty cool.

[Chris Reivers]

Okay, well, I just thought with so much of the nonsense just trying to seep into our everyday lives. It's just. Don't you almost want a reprieve from every everything?

[Mike Fratelloni]

I kind of do, you know, buck up.

[Chris Reivers]

Okay.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Like you're a man. I'm a man. This is what men do. Reverse. We don't look in a mirror and put on chapstick. We don't do that. Right we might use chapstick, but we surely aren't looking in a mirror to do it right.

[Chris Reivers]

Okay?

[Mike Fratelloni]

That's what men do. And since men do it, we can do this. We can take a little bit of pain. We can fight a little harder than the next person. We have more energy than other people. And when I say men, I. I mean Weekly Scramble listeners. Men and women and frat packers.

[Chris Reivers]

Speaking of energy and speaking of men.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Oh, what's that?

[Chris Reivers]

Did you hear about this? No.

[Mike Fratelloni]

What is it?

[Chris Reivers]

There's a woman, Mike.

[Mike Fratelloni]

Okay, I like it so far.

[Chris Reivers]

Selling batteries in the park. There's a woman selling batteries in the park. That's right. She sells See cells down by the seesaw.

[Mike Fratelloni]

You are the best.

[Chris Reivers]

Please do us a favor, rate and review the show wherever you happen to be listening to the weekly Scramble Podcast. That's right. The dad Joke master just got out. Dad joked by the dad Joke intern. That's what I was trying to say.

[Mike Fratelloni]

We got it.

[Chris Reivers]

Oh, my God. Just do us a favor, rate and view the show wherever you happen to be listening the weekly Scramble podcast. It helps others find the show. It helps us out as well, and we appreciate each and every single one of you. His name is Mike Fratelloni. My name is Chris Reivers. Thank you so very much for listening to the Weekly Scramble Podcast podcast. We'll talk to you again next time. Until then, cheers.