Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order this week to expedite the rebuilding of homes and businesses destroyed in the recent fires, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles report.
“We will do everything we can to get Angelenos back home,” she said.
The Palisades and Eaton fires, which erupted on January 7, have destroyed thousands of homes and claimed at least 24 lives. Both fires remain only partially contained.
Her executive order includes:
- Creating a task force to coordinate debris removal
- Directing city departments to expedite all building permit reviews and inspections
- Bypassing state CEQA discretionary reviews
- Allowing rebuilding “like for like” and waiving city discretionary review processes
- Expediting some temporary certificate of occupancy approvals
- Coordinating additional relief with city departments
The executive order and updated state of emergency come as dangerous wind conditions threaten more homes.
Weather experts caution that the return of Santa Ana winds could undermine the progress made against wildfires in Los Angeles County. Calmer winds are expected by Thursday.
In recent days, Mayor Bass and other city leaders have faced criticism over a $17.6 million budget cut to the LA Fire Department.
City Controller Kenneth Mejia stated that the city ignored repeated warnings from the fire chief about the potential consequences of these cuts.
While Mejia did not specifically name Bass or other officials, Bass defended the budget reductions when questioned during a news briefing last week.
“I think it’s most important to understand that we were in tough budgetary times. Everybody knew that,” Bass said on Thursday. “But that impact of our budget really did not impact what we’ve been going through over the last few days.”
During a press conference Monday she added, “When we are past this period, there will be an evaluation of everything that went on. All of those (budget question) issues will be resolved when we are clear Angelenos are safe and we are clear to rebuild our city.”
