{"id":2647246,"date":"2026-08-20T07:53:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntheres-no-easy-story-to-tell-about-wildfire-recovery-in-karen-bass-era-los-angeles\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T08:00:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:00:33","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntheres-no-easy-story-to-tell-about-wildfire-recovery-in-karen-bass-era-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntheres-no-easy-story-to-tell-about-wildfire-recovery-in-karen-bass-era-los-angeles\/","title":{"rendered":"There&#8217;s No Easy Story To Tell About Wildfire Recovery In LA"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntheres-no-easy-story-to-tell-about-wildfire-recovery-in-karen-bass-era-los-angeles%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2647246&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The rebuilding of Pacific Palisades after a devastating fire has been complex and somewhat contradictory. while some residents and officials highlight ongoing reconstruction efforts and note improvements,critics,including local activist Spencer Pratt,describe the recovery as a facade-what he calls a &#8220;Potemkin Village&#8221;-where only a small fraction of homes have been fully rebuilt after twenty months,leaving much of the neighborhood still in ruins and abandoned lots prominent. The community, wealthy and resourceful, is making progress, but many residents, especially the elderly, face ongoing frustrations, delays in insurance payouts, utility reconnections, and bureaucratic obstacles. <\/p>\n<p>Federal involvement,notably under the Trump governance,initially aimed to streamline permitting processes,but efforts shifted,largely leaving local issues as the primary challenge. Permitting is no longer the main bottleneck; instead, problems with insurance funding and utility connections now hinder progress. Perspectives vary: some see the rebuilding as slow but steady,foretelling a significant comeback in the coming years; others view it as a failed effort,with recovery still far from complete. Ultimately,residents agree that beyond physical rebuilding,future safety measures-improved water systems,evacuation routes,vegetation management,and government cooperation-are essential to prevent a repeat disaster.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A much-told story in the news media over the last year and a half is that the rebuilding of Pacific Palisades after a disastrous fire has been slowed by the incompetence of a city government led by Mayor Karen Bass. \u201cFor L.A.\u2019s mayor, a Palisades recovery marked by missteps, reversals and delays,\u201d a <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/dh3KV#selection-2463.0-2463.79\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">headline<\/a> in the Los Angeles Times said near the end of 2025. That\u2019s true, and Bass is presiding over the decline of the entire city, but that\u2019s nowhere near the whole truth. Much of the story now has moved outside of the clearly political, providing a reminder about the limits of government.<\/p>\n<p>Pacific Palisades is the most pleasant neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, and one of the best city neighborhoods in the country. It backs up to the hills and fronts on the ocean, and it\u2019s an urban enclave: just off Pacific Coast Highway, but far from major freeways like the 10 and the 405. For decades in a dirty and decaying Los Angeles, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificpalisadeshistory.org\/church-that-built-a-town\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Methodist-founded<\/a> Palisades persisted as what was effectively a small town within a giant city, safe and peaceful, in an island of natural beauty. <\/p>\n<p>Then it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fire.ca.gov\/incidents\/2025\/1\/7\/palisades-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">burned<\/a>, in a shocking piece of government failure that\u2019s gradually being <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Hotshot_Movie\/status\/2027282535877640635\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">exposed by time and litigation<\/a>. Six thousand homes <a href=\"https:\/\/resident.com\/health-and-wellness-resources\/2026\/07\/31\/how-many-houses-burned-in-the-palisades-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">were destroyed<\/a> here, with more homes being lost <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/la\/article\/carbon-beach-palisades-fire-billionaire-homes-20027619.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">outside<\/a> the boundaries of the Palisades and about a thousand nonresidential properties destroyed. As a sign of how burned-out residents view the whole thing, a neighborhood coalition that formed around fire recovery topics calls its website <a href=\"https:\/\/theyletusburn.com\/#about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">They Let Us Burn<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Today, not quite 20 months after the fire, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ebDAKxn3-xQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Malibu Village<\/a> mobile home park \u2014\u00a0which, despite the name, isn\u2019t in Malibu \u2014\u00a0looks like this:<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>Chris Bray\/The Federalist<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you look closely, you\u2019ll see the top of a lifeguard stand on the beach, sticking up behind the ruins across Pacific Coast Highway. That\u2019s a pretty good hint about the old quality of life in Pacific Palisades.<\/p>\n<p>Up the hill from that still-ruined community, along Sunset Boulevard, weeds grow in the foundations of apartment buildings that aren\u2019t being rebuilt, and concrete stairs climb to nothing. You can see the outline of what was here in the ruins that have replaced it.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>Chris Bray\/The Federalist<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Burned-out lots stand behind fences, with piles of uncleared fire debris. Blackened trees crack and collapse, still unmanaged.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>Chris Bray\/The Federalist<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the hills you can find a somewhat cleaner version of <em>more of the same<\/em>, bare foundations where people used to live.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>Chris Bray\/The Federalist<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But you can also see this, and you can see it everywhere:<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>Chris Bray\/The Federalist<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At the cultural center of Pacific Palisades, in the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/FsDUhYD4VMs?si=QHdFSLUrgYMizs9h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">alphabet streets<\/a>\u201d named for Methodist ministers (Albright, Bashford, Carey, Drummond \u2026), construction is <em>well<\/em> underway, and whole blocks have active construction on nearly every lot. From several intersections, you can look in all directions and see homes being built everywhere you look.<\/p>\n<p>Ruined lots, no construction, uncleared fire debris, and also construction everywhere, some of it well into advanced stages. Which one is the real story?<\/p>\n<p>Twenty months after the fire, they both are. And it gets more complicated from there.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u2018A Potemkin Village<\/strong>\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>In an <a href=\"https:\/\/spencerpratt.substack.com\/p\/the-palisades-potemkin-village\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">essay<\/a> posted over the weekend, Palisades resident and former mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt blasted the re-opening of Palisades Village, a commercial center owned by the developer Rick Caruso. He called it an island of fake recovery in a ruined neighborhood, \u201ca mere facade covering up a very grim reality.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Twenty months later, Pratt concludes, rebuilding statistics reveal \u201ca\u00a0very bleak status.\u201d Six thousand homes burned, and \u201conly 30 or so have been fully rebuilt.\u201d Rebuilding has failed, and the community is dying. \u201cIt\u2019s a miserable place to live,\u201d Pratt writes, \u201cand people have no more patience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The president of the <a href=\"https:\/\/palisadesresidents.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pacific Palisades Residents Association<\/a> hadn\u2019t seen that essay, and she laughed out loud when she heard what it said. Jessica Rogers had just seen new permitting data, and she thought the figures were \u201cpretty outstandingly good.\u201d In one of the wealthiest communities in the city, many burned-out residents have the resources to rebuild, and they\u2019re rebuilding. Pacific Palisades is not a story of failure. \u201cIt\u2019s coming back, and it\u2019s coming back faster than predicted,\u201d she told The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p>She also said this, just a few minutes later: \u201cPeople are suffering. This is a disaster of such proportions. I can\u2019t say that things are going well.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s particularly true for elderly residents who bought homes in the Palisades decades ago, in a <em>much<\/em> different <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/2021-cant-be-any-worse-can-it\/\" title=\"2021 Can&#039;t Be Any Worse, Can It?!\">real estate market<\/a>, when it cost less to live here. But there\u2019s some degree of truth in it for everyone, as problems are solved but then replaced by new problems.<\/p>\n<p>Famously, President Donald Trump flew into Los Angeles for a series of meetings with state and city officials and Palisades residents after the fire, and the media <a href=\"https:\/\/ktla.com\/news\/california\/wildfires\/trump-discusses-fire-recovery-efforts-with-local-leaders-in-sometimes-tense-roundtable\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described<\/a> those roundtable meetings as tense and angry. Rogers was in the room, and she offers a different take: \u201cThe federal government did what they said they would do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Behind the scenes, Rogers told The Federalist, Trump administration officials and city officials developed a collaborative effort that identified problems and solved them. Politicians sniping at each other in public had staff who were working collaboratively. <\/p>\n<p>There are signs of adaptation and openness in the way events have played out. In January of this year, Trump signed an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2026\/01\/addressing-state-and-local-failures-to-rebuild-los-angeles-after-wildfire-disasters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">executive order<\/a> directing federal officials to develop ways to preempt local permitting authority, offering direct federal approval for residential rebuilding. But today, people who are rebuilding are doing so with city permits, and the Trump administration has dropped the preemption effort. A headline in Politico <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/03\/10\/trump-announced-a-hostile-takeover-of-las-wildfire-rebuild-collaboration-ensued-00819989\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described<\/a> that switch like this: \u201cTrump announced a hostile takeover of LA\u2019s wildfire rebuild. Collaboration ensued.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>California Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s office described that change in its usual sneering and angry language: \u201cThis is typical behavior from the\u00a0Trump\u00a0administration who are more interested in getting headlines than actually helping with LA recovery or moving viable policies forward.\u201d But Rogers says that the Trump administration dropped the permitting preemption effort because Palisades residents told them that permitting was \u201cnot really the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey listened,\u201d she told The Federalist. And they worked with city officials to solve permitting problems and move on. That\u2019s not the story you\u2019ve been hearing in the news.<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist spent several days trying to get both the Trump administration and city officials to discuss the rebuilding effort in Pacific Palisades, with limited success. A spokesman for <a href=\"https:\/\/cd11.lacity.gov\/about\/traci-park\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Councilmember Traci Park<\/a>, who represents Pacific Palisades on the Los Angeles City Council, didn\u2019t respond at all to several email messages. <\/p>\n<p>The White House press office didn\u2019t answer specific questions, but spokeswoman Lauren Bis sent this statement: \u201cThe Trump Administration has obligated nearly $2.6 billion to support the California wildfire response and recovery, and extended the period of time for providing financial assistance to homeowners and renters as they rebuild their lives since Governor Newsom and California\u2019s radical left policies fail to meet the most basic needs of their own residents.\u201d <\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u2018No Longer the Primary Bottleneck<\/strong>\u2018<\/h2>\n<p>With the City of Los Angeles getting the permitting process under control, the current problems all shift elsewhere. (A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-04-09\/rebuilding-permits-in-altadena-have-picked-up-but-construction-lags-financial-woes-loom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">similar story<\/a> can be told in the unincorporated community of Altadena, outside the City of Los Angeles, which also suffered a catastrophic fire on the same day.)<\/p>\n<p>Anthony Marguleas is the <a href=\"https:\/\/amalfiestates.com\/anthony-marguleas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">founder of a real estate firm<\/a> that has sold hundreds of houses in Pacific Palisades, and he\u2019s watching his clients rebuild. He\u2019s also rebuilding his own house. \u201cTwenty months after the fires,\u201d he told The Federalist, \u201capproximately 1,556 rebuilding permits have been issued, but only 39 individual addresses have received certificates of occupancy. To me, that tells you the problem has moved downstream. Permitting is no longer the primary bottleneck; insurance funding and utility connections are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While some homeowners continue to negotiate with their insurers, Marguleas told The Federalist, every problem is solved but the problem of paying for it all: \u201cYou can have approved plans, a permit, and a contractor ready to go, but if you don\u2019t have the insurance proceeds needed to fund construction, you can\u2019t build.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Construction funding has become an ugly problem, well-covered in the local news. As the Los Angeles Times recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-07-17\/fire-survivors-were-finally-ready-to-rebuild-new-barrier-is-leaving-them-demoralized\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, burned-out homeowners have even received insurance payouts only to find that \u201cmortgage lenders are delaying and denying access to their insurance funds held in escrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the other <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7.com\/post\/palisades-fire-victim-moves-rebuilt-home-says-ladwp-hasnt-turned-power\/19528959\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">much-reported<\/a> big problem, homeowners who complete their rebuild find that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power can\u2019t get their utility connections done. Delays in reconnection are keeping people out of fully rebuilt homes.<\/p>\n<p>People who were burned out of Pacific Palisades disagree about what all of this means: slow success, or failure with a small number of counter-examples?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, there\u2019s rebuilding happening after 19 months,\u201d Palisades activist Jeremy Padawer recently <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JeremyCom\/status\/2086527168054730822\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> on social media. \u201cNo, it\u2019s not impressive. 1200 of 7000 lots have permits. Between 15-20% after 19 months. That\u2019s a bad look.\u201d That\u2019s a widely shared local view, but it\u2019s also contested in the same neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFive years from now,\u201d Marguleas told The Federalist, \u201cI think people will be shocked by how completely the Palisades has come back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whatever happens, Rogers told The Federalist, the rebuilding is only the first thing that has to be addressed. A post-recovery Pacific Palisades will need more reliable water systems, better evacuation routes, consistent clearance of flammable vegetation, and regular cooperation between local, state, and federal government. \u201cWe\u2019re in the dark ages when it comes to wildfire,\u201d she told The Federalist. All of that is still up in the air, and it shouldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n<p>  \u201cI don\u2019t want to go through this again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Chris Bray is a senior correspondent at The Federalist and a former infantry sergeant in the U.S. Army. He has a history PhD from the University of California Los Angeles, not that it did him any good. He also posts on Substack, at &#8220;Tell Me How This Ends,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/chrisbray.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Palisades fire recovery faces delays amid political issues<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2086,"featured_media":2647248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ocean-pool-5-scaled.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[84425,84424,70599,70612,37135],"class_list":["post-2647246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-disaster-resilience","tag-la-fire-recovery","tag-los-angeles-wildfires","tag-wildfire-aftermath","tag-wildfire-recovery"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ocean-pool-5-scaled.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2647246"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2647250,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647246\/revisions\/2647250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2647248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2647246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2647246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2647246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}