Independent Commission Urges Creation of Fire Oversight Body

Nearly six months on from the deadly wildfires that ripped through Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, an independent commission is offering a new path forward to improve future fire recovery efforts.

On Friday, the Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and Fire-Safe Recovery issued its recommendations calling for the state legislature to create a new authority to oversee and coordinate rebuilding efforts and ensure proper fire-proofing of new construction, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Lindsey Horvath, member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, convened the 20-member independent commission in February to determine how officials can more efficiently respond to such disasters in the future. The commission comprised community and technical experts including national climate resiliency and disaster response leaders; building and urban design professionals; water and power engineers; and housing, insurance and finance experts.

The group recommended the creation of a Resilient Rebuilding Authority, which would streamline complex recovery efforts and prioritize the return of residents and businesses to their properties as Altadena and the Palisades continue rebuilding.

“The severity of the situation needs extraordinary measures. Business as usual just won’t work,” Cecilia Estolano, a commission member and former chief executive of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, told the Times.

Resilient Rebuilding Authority officials would use tax-increment financing and other funding sources to buy burned lots that property owners want to sell and subsequently guide the rebuilding process by selecting developers and coordinating construction at scale. Residents displaced by the fires would get first dibs on the new homes.

In doing so, the body would purportedly avoid a situation where investors snap up properties and build new homes that those displaced can’t afford. The authority, the commission said, is “designed to counterbalance the forces that drive displacement and inequality in the aftermath of disasters.”

“Left to business as usual, you will see this being driven by land speculation,” Estolano, who herself was displaced by the Eaton fire in Altadena, said. The goal is to pursue “a more balanced rebuilding, rather than one that’s purely determined by the marketplace.”

“The authority could enable a fair price and give these folks a chance as their first look to return back to what homes will be rebuilt. And that will not happen without an authority,” Estolano added.

In the proposed plan, the Resilient Rebuilding Authority would be led by a board with members appointed by the governor, state lawmakers and local governments, and with citizen advisory boards providing guidance. The commission also floated the idea of putting forward a ballot measure to create a new Los Angeles County Fire Control District, funded through a property tax, to focus on wildfire prevention, vegetation management and other efforts to reduce fire risks.

Horvath’s commission called for the city, county and state to work with the new authority to launch a campaign to secure $200 million over the next one to two years in philanthropic contributions to support rebuilding, and to help secure additional financial resources.

The commission will spend the coming months continuing to promote and encourage the adoption and implementation of its recommendations, according to a statement from the University of California, Los Angeles, which partnered with the county for the effort. The legislature has yet to respond to any of the proposals, which also include a wildfire protection home retrofitting program, implementing water-efficient resilient landscaping and water management tactics, as well as providing dedicated “resilient rebuild” incentives.

Rebuilding efforts in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena have been moving at a glacial pace. In the nearly six months since the January blazes, Los Angeles County has issued 33 rebuilding permits in the fire-damaged areas, according to its official permitting tracker. Of those, 32 are in the Eaton fire burn zone, while only one has been issued in the Palisades.

— Chris Malone Méndez