XPost: alt.home.repair, alt.los-angeles, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: alt.politics.democrats, sac.politics   
   From: zpojet@live.com   
      
   Since the Palisades fire, Mayor Karen Bass has announced recovery   
   strategies with fanfare, only for them to be delayed or abandoned   
   altogether.   
   Critics say the mayor’s missteps have undermined public confidence in the   
   rebuilding process.   
   Bass said the recovery is moving at “lightning speed,” in part because of   
   emergency orders that slashed permitting times.   
   It was supposed to be a speech with a clear message of hope for survivors   
   of the Palisades fire.   
      
   In her State of the City address in April, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass   
   called for a law exempting fire victims from construction permit fees —   
   potentially saving them tens of thousands of dollars as they rebuild their   
   homes.   
      
   Eight months later, the City Council is still debating how much permit   
   relief the city can afford. Palisades residents have been left hanging,   
   with some blaming Bass for failing to finalize a deal.   
      
   “This should have been pushed, and it wasn’t pushed,” said electrician Tom   
   Doran, who has submitted plans to rebuild his three-bedroom home. “There   
   was no motor on that boat. It was allowed to drift downstream.”   
      
   Since the Jan. 7 fire destroyed thousands of homes, Bass has been   
   announcing recovery strategies with great fanfare, only for them to get   
   bogged down in the details or abandoned altogether.   
      
   At one point, she called for the removal of traffic checkpoints around   
   Pacific Palisades, only to reverse course after an outcry over public   
   safety. She pushed tax relief for wildfire victims in Sacramento, only to   
   abruptly pull the plug on her bill. Her relationship with Steve Soboroff,   
   her first and only chief recovery officer, quickly unraveled over pay and   
   other issues. He left after a 90-day stint.   
      
   Critics in and outside the Palisades say the mayor’s missteps have   
   undermined public confidence in the rebuilding process. They have also   
   made her more politically vulnerable as she ramps up her campaign for a   
   second term.   
      
   Bass, seated in her spacious City Hall office earlier this month, said the   
   recovery is happening at “lightning speed” compared to other devastating   
   wildfires, in part because of her emergency orders dramatically cutting   
   the time it takes to obtain building permits.   
      
   By mid-December, more than 2,600 permit applications had been filed for   
   more than 1,200 addresses — about a fifth of the properties damaged or   
   destroyed in the fire. Permits had been issued at about 600 addresses,   
   with construction underway at nearly 400, according to city figures.   
      
   Still, Bass acknowledged that fire victims are feeling angry and   
   frustrated as they enter the holiday season.   
      
   “I think people have a right to all of those emotions, and I wouldn’t   
   argue with any of them,” she said.   
      
   Rebuilding a community after a natural disaster is a monumental task, one   
   with no clear playbook. Many of the obstacles — insurance claims, mortgage   
   relief — reach beyond the purview of a mayor.   
      
   Still, Bass has plenty of power. City agencies crucial to the rebuilding   
   effort report to her. She works closely with the council, whose members   
   have sharply questioned some of her recovery initiatives.   
      
   Palisades residents had reason to be skeptical of the rebuilding process,   
   given the problems that played out on Jan. 7: the failure to pre-deploy   
   firefighters, the chaotic evacuation and the fact that Bass was out of the   
   country on a diplomatic mission to Ghana.   
      
   In the weeks that followed, Bass was unsteady in her public appearances   
   and at odds with her fire chief, whom she ultimately dismissed. She   
   struggled to give residents a sense that the recovery was in capable   
   hands.   
      
   Perhaps the most disastrous narrative revolved around Soboroff, a longtime   
   civic leader known for his blunt, outspoken style.   
      
   To many, the assignment made sense on paper. Soboroff had a background in   
   home building, roots in the Palisades and extensive knowledge of City   
   Hall.   
      
   Soboroff initially expected to receive a salary of $500,000 for three   
   months of work as chief recovery officer, with the funds coming from   
   philanthropy. After that figure triggered an outcry, Bass changed course,   
   persuading him to work for free. Soon afterward, Soboroff told an audience   
   that he had been “lied to” about whether he would be compensated. (He   
   later apologized.)   
      
   Soboroff also voiced frustration with the job itself, saying he had been   
   excluded from key decisions. At one point, Bass appeared to narrow his   
   duties, telling reporters he would focus primarily on rebuilding the   
   community’s historic business district and nearby public areas.   
      
   Bass told The Times that she does not view her selection of Soboroff as a   
   mistake. But she acknowledged there were “challenges along the way” — and   
   decisions where Soboroff was not included.   
      
   “In those first few months when everything was happening, I’m sure there   
   were decisions he wanted to be in that he wasn’t in,” she said.   
      
   In April, amid Soboroff’s departure, Bass said she was searching for a new   
   chief recovery officer. She repeated that assertion in July. Yet she never   
   publicly announced a replacement for Soboroff, baffling some in the   
   Palisades and providing fresh ammunition to her critics.   
      
   Real estate developer Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass in 2022 and   
   founded the nonprofit SteadfastLA to speed the rebuilding process, said   
   the recovery czar position is still desperately needed, given the size of   
   the task ahead.   
      
   “You’ve got infrastructure that has to be rebuilt, undergrounding of power   
   lines, upgrading of water mains. At the same time, you want to get people   
   back in their homes,” said Caruso, who is weighing another run for mayor.   
      
   Behind the scenes, Bass opted not to select a single person to replace   
   Soboroff, going instead with a trio of consultants. By then, she had   
   confronted a spate of other crises — federal immigration raids, a $1-   
   billion budget shortfall, a split with county officials over the region’s   
   approach to homelessness.   
      
   Soboroff declined to comment on Bass’ handling of the recovery. Early on,   
   he pushed the mayor’s team to hire the global engineering giant AECOM to   
   oversee the recovery. Bass went initially with Hagerty, an Illinois-based   
   consulting firm that specializes in emergency management.   
      
   At the time, the mayor pointed out that Hagerty was already working with   
   county officials on the Eaton fire recovery in Altadena and Palisades fire   
   recovery in other unincorporated areas.   
      
   The city gave Hagerty a one-year contract worth up to $10 million to   
   provide “full project management” of the recovery, Bass said at the time.   
      
   Hagerty quickly ran into trouble. At community events, the firm’s   
   consultants struggled to explain their role in the rebuilding.   
      
   Two months after Soboroff stepped down, Bass announced she was hiring   
   AECOM after all to develop a plan for rebuilding city infrastructure.   
      
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