Speaker 1: iHeart Podcast presents a town hall with California Governor Gavin Newsom. Up, first,
Speaker 1: we have Vincent, Beverly and Vincent in Pasadena. Vincent and
Speaker 1: Beverly are married. Vincent is their son. They lost their
Speaker 1: family home of forty one years in the Eton fire. Governor,
Speaker 1: this is Vincent, Beverly and Vincent.
Speaker 2: Hey, guys, hello, forty one years huh.
Speaker 3: One years and same spot. Kids grew up there. We
Speaker 3: modeled the house, fixed it up. We fixed it up,
Speaker 3: made a home out of it. We didn't have to
Speaker 3: move and centrally located, so everything was there, all my
Speaker 3: family history, everything.
Speaker 2: And and and a community that's unlike any other in
Speaker 2: the region. Huh. I mean, remarkable diversity, generational wealth being created,
Speaker 2: opportunities beautiful tell us. I mean when you know, for
Speaker 2: those that don't fully appreciate Alta Dina and maybe more
Speaker 2: familiar with some of these coastal communities, maybe can help
Speaker 2: if you would, I'd appreciate it, and I think people
Speaker 2: listening would appreciate. Just describe the community and the people,
Speaker 2: the vibrancy.
Speaker 3: The attraction is that it's a wooded area and the
Speaker 3: forest is right there, lots of wildlife, parks. The community
Speaker 3: made up of people who have been in Altadena for generations.
Speaker 4: Tight community.
Speaker 3: Everybody knows everybody on the block. Everybody comes to each
Speaker 3: other's rescue. My neighbors helped me build fences, and I
Speaker 3: helped them paint their homes and do that kind of thing.
Speaker 3: And we've seen the senior citizens leave and their children
Speaker 3: come in, be seen young people come in. And Alta
Speaker 3: Dina was had the reputation of being kind of like
Speaker 3: a little secret. People didn't know how nice it was
Speaker 3: up in Altadena. And young folks are starting to come
Speaker 3: in and buy some of the homes when the older
Speaker 3: people leave or go into nursing homes or leave to
Speaker 3: go with their families when they can't support themselves anymore
Speaker 3: by themselves. But it was always a welcoming community and
Speaker 3: always a surprise to.
Speaker 4: People when they came up.
Speaker 3: Parks were nice, just almost a perfect kind of situation.
Speaker 5: It was crime free. What with your door, Go walk
Speaker 5: your dog out, locking your door, come back, everything would
Speaker 5: be in place. Speak to everybody along the way and
Speaker 5: it was our perfect day. You know, we love We
Speaker 5: weren't going anywhere.
Speaker 2: Wow, did you guys, did you have insurance on the property.
Speaker 5: Yes, yes, we haven't assurance. That is not an issue.
Speaker 5: Our issue now is finding somewhere to live. People are
Speaker 5: gouging us. They want to give us properties that they
Speaker 5: would normally rent from anywhere from three to five thousand
Speaker 5: dollars a month. They want to charge us eight thousand
Speaker 5: dollars and it's unfurnished. It's at the top of most
Speaker 5: people's budget. So you got a home, and then you
Speaker 5: got to still come out of pocket to get a
Speaker 5: washing machine and dryer, a bed. All that that's part
Speaker 5: is disturbing me more than anything. Right now that I
Speaker 5: am out of a home of forty one years. None
Speaker 5: of my personal belongings, you know, antiques that have been
Speaker 5: passed down, some of them, and some antiques that we
Speaker 5: purchased after all these years, they're gone. We don't have
Speaker 5: basic things, and people don't seem to cure to allow
Speaker 5: us to try to make homes for the next two
Speaker 5: years while we're waiting to rebuild.
Speaker 2: It is grief and and mine on your behalf. It
Speaker 2: is unconscionable to see this kind of price gouging and
Speaker 2: to see the greed of people taking advantage of you
Speaker 2: and others similarly in your position. We immediately after this
Speaker 2: this disaster, we did. I signed an executive order on
Speaker 2: price gouging. It's now about enforcing it. And so I
Speaker 2: cannot impress upon you. Let me. I want to know
Speaker 2: who to forgive my language, Who the hell these people
Speaker 2: are that are doubling rents. I want their names, their address.
Speaker 2: I'm coming after them. The Attorney General needs to come
Speaker 2: after them. It is against the law to do that.
Speaker 2: If they were advertising a rent before this tragedy, they
Speaker 2: cannot charge these absorbent and prices. They cannot, and so
Speaker 2: we need to we need to hold them accountable. And
Speaker 2: these laws mean nothing unless we enforce and so I'm
Speaker 2: sorry that you're facing that, and I know others as well,
Speaker 2: and we've got we've got to hold these people accountable.
Speaker 5: Also, they're trying to force us into a twenty four
Speaker 5: month leaf instead of a one year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, thank you for that example. Let me
Speaker 2: look into that as well. Were doing tenant protections. There's
Speaker 2: a lot of people that are moving into rentals with
Speaker 2: family members, but then they're in a rental and the
Speaker 2: rental says, well, you can only have two people, and
Speaker 2: now there's five, and so potentially people are going to
Speaker 2: get evicted. So I just did an executive order yesterday
Speaker 2: on that, prohibiting that so people have the ability, if
Speaker 2: they've been impacted by the fires, to be with others
Speaker 2: in that rental environment. The price gouging. I extended the
Speaker 2: price gouging beyond the emergency declaration, and the Attorney General
Speaker 2: just did a big announcement potentially needing some warrant power
Speaker 2: to have more force to go after these people taking advantage.
Speaker 2: So thank you for that one versus two year example.
Speaker 2: Can I ask you this, have you been offered any
Speaker 2: unsolicited offers to buy your home?
Speaker 4: Absolutely?
Speaker 3: My bone two or three days after this potastrophe, the
Speaker 3: Bone was bringing off the whole people just calling, are
Speaker 3: you interested? Get tech still buy your property?
Speaker 4: You know as that Cody.
Speaker 2: I was at the first Ame Lena Kennedy and others
Speaker 2: community leaders in your backyard five days ago, and this
Speaker 2: came up with with faith leaders and community leaders, and
Speaker 2: we immediately did an executive order that now is illegal
Speaker 2: as well. They cannot unsolicit you with low ball offers.
Speaker 2: My biggest fear right now in Altadena is the community
Speaker 2: is not able to come back because in a time
Speaker 2: of trial and stress, people may feel hopeless and may
Speaker 2: give in to the temptation to sell their properties at
Speaker 2: below market value. We cannot let that happen. And so
Speaker 2: these predatory practices, these people that are calling you, texting,
Speaker 2: that's something else. Please please let us know. I want
Speaker 2: to go. I mean, this is another area where we
Speaker 2: have to go after these people speculators taking advantage of
Speaker 2: this tragedy.
Speaker 4: Well, here's one example.
Speaker 3: Or these scammers are coming in and touching base with
Speaker 3: people and ask them. But they want to rebuilt. And
Speaker 3: if you give us a depositive, will purchase your supplies
Speaker 3: because supplies it.
Speaker 4: Will be in demand.
Speaker 3: And once you decide to build, if you don't have
Speaker 3: those plies set aside, build the materials and stuff that
Speaker 3: it's going to be along the way. So give us
Speaker 3: some money now, will pursase them for you now, and
Speaker 3: then then you never hear from those guys.
Speaker 4: Again.
Speaker 2: Thank you for highlighting that for people listening, uh to
Speaker 2: not fall prey to that and these scanners and fraudsters. Well,
Speaker 2: what so, we've we've got a lot of work to
Speaker 2: do together to have your back and your your neighbors
Speaker 2: and the community, and to get you back and uh
Speaker 2: and and to keep you uh in the mind frame
Speaker 2: you are right now that I mean you you don't
Speaker 2: want to move, You want to rebuild.
Speaker 4: Right, this is this is our forever home. So yeah,
Speaker 4: we want to.
Speaker 3: But here are some things when talking to people that
Speaker 3: are concerned about the infrastructure for Altadena markets the library
Speaker 3: burnt down, banks burnt down, the post office burnt down,
Speaker 3: you know, senior citizens centers and all that burned down.
Speaker 3: Is that going to come back? Is that recovery going
Speaker 3: to be accelerated? For Altadena? The building permits nightmare going
Speaker 3: to be modified so that we can get to start
Speaker 3: building sooner.
Speaker 2: So let me specifically answer that. And being up being
Speaker 2: in your backyard nine in the last twelve days and
Speaker 2: going up and down the commercial Court or seeing that
Speaker 2: destruction firsthand, I'm mindful of everything you just said. Let
Speaker 2: me be specific though, as it relates to permits, we
Speaker 2: are waving sequel, We wave the Coastal Act. We have
Speaker 2: a forcing function in the executive order. I have done
Speaker 2: eleven executive orders since the fires to require local government
Speaker 2: to create the conditions where local government is responsible for
Speaker 2: getting permits within thirty days and making sure that we
Speaker 2: break through all of the bureaucratic red tape. So the
Speaker 2: state has already done that, and we are driving locals
Speaker 2: to do that as well. Number Two, the Biden administration,
Speaker 2: President Biden and I say President Biden, Joe Biden. President
Speaker 2: Joe Biden himself approved a major dis master declaration within
Speaker 2: thirty six hours. It's unprecedented in the history of disasters
Speaker 2: in this country. What does that mean. It allows for
Speaker 2: individual assistance, which is critical, but it also, through this
Speaker 2: technical thing called ceeded G grants, allows for all of
Speaker 2: the parks, playgrounds, community centers, and everything you just described
Speaker 2: to get rebuilt with federal support and federal money. We're
Speaker 2: getting reimbursed at seventy five percent for that one hundred
Speaker 2: percent for other things. So there's going to be a
Speaker 2: little bit of a local match forgive the technical point there,
Speaker 2: but we've already we just got that, and we got
Speaker 2: it just in time before tomorrow Monday, and we're making
Speaker 2: sure that those dollars not only are secure, but they're
Speaker 2: being activated. And then we've got the Small Business Administration
Speaker 2: that's out there trying to provide that extra support. And
Speaker 2: then there's gaps. We've got all these community foundations. And
Speaker 2: then there's a huge effort La Rises effort, which is
Speaker 2: going to be this the community led effort, which is
Speaker 2: going to lead a vibrant, energetic rebuilding process that is
Speaker 2: community led, not top down. It's not going to be
Speaker 2: the state dictating. It's going to be you telling us
Speaker 2: what you need. And we're going to remove every damn
Speaker 2: barrier that we humanly possibly can between the city, state, region,
Speaker 2: and federal partners.
Speaker 3: So well, there need to be community leaders established in
Speaker 3: order to tap into this effort.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're in fact where the reason I was with
Speaker 2: Lena and others and with the church leaders, we're really
Speaker 2: starting to already connect to the UH, to the community
Speaker 2: UH and in a very granular way. And in today
Speaker 2: Sunday we're announcing UH this our co chairs and I
Speaker 2: because at any hour it's going to go out. I
Speaker 2: want to be careful. I think you're going to appreciate
Speaker 2: the folks that are going to be leading this effort
Speaker 2: for the state because they're deeply committed to your community.
Speaker 2: And Altadena is on my mind with this larger rebuilt
Speaker 2: I assure you Alta Dina is deeply on my mind.
Speaker 3: So there's concerned that you know, they may try to
Speaker 3: turn the Altadena into an apartment area and the no
Speaker 3: homeschool away, but they'll be building back with apartment buildings.
Speaker 3: Except like our park. We've had the developers try to
Speaker 3: get our park park before, and you know, you know
Speaker 3: the part of the park burned, just the building there.
Speaker 3: But you know, hopefully there's no changing of our zona.
Speaker 3: We try to keep it a residential home area, single
Speaker 3: home area.
Speaker 2: We've got to do everything in our power. You have
Speaker 2: my firm commitment. Then when I say community led, you
Speaker 2: decide in that respect. I do not want to see
Speaker 2: speculators come in. I don't want to see displacement. We
Speaker 2: don't want to see reckless up zoning that destroys the
Speaker 2: character and the unique vibrancy of your community. And we
Speaker 2: all want to see parks and open space devoured in
Speaker 2: that respect. So absolutely, that's the commitment.
Speaker 5: Do you have any idea when they might be able
Speaker 5: to start, you know, excavating some of that clean up, Steff.
Speaker 4: We haven't even been able to get back to our
Speaker 4: home site.
Speaker 2: Yet, so I'm sorry about that. So here's here's where
Speaker 2: we are, and here's the latest over ninety percent over
Speaker 2: ninety percent of all the homes that have been impacted
Speaker 2: by the Eating Fire in your backyard have gone through
Speaker 2: this what they call din's process, which is damaged assessment process.
Speaker 2: We have already set up three debris removal sites around
Speaker 2: the Eating Fire. The us EPA is going in boots
Speaker 2: on the ground doing the actual physical removal of hazardous
Speaker 2: materials tomorrow Monday, and that includes batteries and propane tanks, ammunition,
Speaker 2: whatever may be there. They're not touching personal property, they're
Speaker 2: just doing all of that. That will all be complete
Speaker 2: within sixty days. But as each property, the first day
Speaker 2: there's properties done, they'll put up on the website. You
Speaker 2: can go to CA dot gov slash LA fires, ca
Speaker 2: dot gov slash la fires. The minute they finish a
Speaker 2: property for the hazmat it makes it eligible now for
Speaker 2: to breed removal for the rest of it, which you
Speaker 2: can do yourself as a homeowner. If you have insurance.
Speaker 2: Insurance covers it and you want to do it yourself
Speaker 2: and hire someone, you have the right to do that,
Speaker 2: or you can sign a right to entry where the
Speaker 2: Army Corps of Engineers we just announced the Army Corps
Speaker 2: will be doing the master debris removal. They can come
Speaker 2: in and do it. If your insurance doesn't cover all
Speaker 2: of the debris removal that will be done by FEMA,
Speaker 2: they'll pick up the difference and the costs. And we
Speaker 2: want to get the properties prepared, not the foundations. We'll
Speaker 2: keep the foundations and then we'll get those properties prepared
Speaker 2: for what you want to do with them as it
Speaker 2: relates to the rebuild, etc. Again waiving all the Seker
Speaker 2: rules and all the process etc. So that can happen
Speaker 2: in real time as well. So that's where we are.
Speaker 2: Within sixty days, all of the hasmats done and debris
Speaker 2: removal will begin in real time as Phase two is
Speaker 2: entered into and we hope to get the debris done,
Speaker 2: all of it for both the Eating Fire and Palisades.
Speaker 2: I want to say in nine months, but with grace
Speaker 2: and humility, based on the scale and scope, probably nine
Speaker 2: to twelve month months for all the debris removed.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, so you think rebuilding actually won't take place for.
Speaker 4: About a year.
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, I want to get it done. We're going
Speaker 2: to do back to heaven and Earth. Heaven and Earth
Speaker 2: to do everything in our power to to to bring
Speaker 2: that uh into the months, uh, but not a year,
Speaker 2: so that we can we can start and look, as
Speaker 2: I said, if you're first in on the hasmat, for example,
Speaker 2: if your property on Tuesday is ready and the has
Speaker 2: mats cleared, which will happen, they'll be properties next Tuesday,
Speaker 2: We'll have hazmat Thursday, Friday, Saturday, more properties and that's
Speaker 2: now you're working on the secondary debris removal. Your property
Speaker 2: on the front line can can start much sooner. I'm
Speaker 2: talking about all the properties on the back. But if
Speaker 2: you're the last in line, uh, it may be that
Speaker 2: that full year, but we're going to do everything to
Speaker 2: try to make that quicker.
Speaker 4: Okay, that's that's that's it.
Speaker 2: I could spend the next three years with you, guys.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you.
Speaker 5: Oh, i appreciate you to your great governance.
Speaker 2: And I'm sorry for all you're going through.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we love you, Love you guys.
Speaker 1: Up next, we have Natalie from Pacific Palisades. Natalie lost
Speaker 1: both her home and her business. Natalie, meet Governor Newsom.
Speaker 2: Are you there? Natalie?
Speaker 6: Hi, Governor Newsom, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2: Question is how are you doing?
Speaker 6: Not the greatest, just being totally honest.
Speaker 2: She lost your home, and your business.
Speaker 6: I lost both. Yes, it's been very devastating.
Speaker 2: And what has it been navigating some of the support
Speaker 2: that's out there? Have you been to the disaster recovery
Speaker 2: center of you?
Speaker 7: I have, and there's been some that have been absolutely amazing,
Speaker 7: and I'm so grateful for them. The reason I even
Speaker 7: have makeup right now is because there was a place
Speaker 7: on Montana and Santa Monica that was just fantastic and
Speaker 7: free people warning these outfits, So that was really kind. Unfortunately,
Speaker 7: some of the other disaster relief has been not the greatest,
Speaker 7: But for the people that are helping and the companies
Speaker 7: that are helping, I will never forget who they are.
Speaker 2: I love that. What is is if FEMA assistants SBA
Speaker 2: assistance for you, has it been navigating that?
Speaker 7: I'll be quite Franks, not pretty easy. They're kind of
Speaker 7: making this as hard as possible for me. I'm not
Speaker 7: loving it at the moment because they're making me just
Speaker 7: jump through like hoops of fire for being honest. Essentially,
Speaker 7: like I did have some Renter's insurance on my home right,
Speaker 7: very small amount that doesn't even cover some of like
Speaker 7: literally it's like nothing, basically, and because I was honest
Speaker 7: with them about that. I'm now getting pushed back on
Speaker 7: the wait list. So far they're denying my claim. I
Speaker 7: have to resubmit it and I have to give them
Speaker 7: all all kinds of information now, and that's just unfortunate because,
Speaker 7: like I was honest.
Speaker 2: And that's specific to the FEMA process. Yeah, and SBA,
Speaker 2: have you engaged those guys.
Speaker 6: It's been SBA was very difficult.
Speaker 7: There was a lot of issues with the website, like
Speaker 7: my email wouldn't verify for five days and then I
Speaker 7: realized it was just another anyway, it was very difficult
Speaker 7: technolog like the links weren't working, and yeah, so I
Speaker 7: would hope going forward that they could get it together
Speaker 7: a little more as far as like their tech side and.
Speaker 6: Not doing what they're doing to me.
Speaker 2: Basically, I appreciate, and we'll we'll follow up specifically and
Speaker 2: see what we can do to help navigate that with
Speaker 2: you directly, and and we you know, we've been blowing
Speaker 2: them up. And the whole idea is to make this
Speaker 2: virtual as seamless as possible, but also supplement that in
Speaker 2: person and try to bring everybody under one roof at
Speaker 2: these disaster recovery centers, all the federal agencies, state agencies,
Speaker 2: local and then nonprofits as well to fill those gaps.
Speaker 7: I appreciate that because unfortunately, and I can't get too
Speaker 7: into this because I will be entering legal stuff. My
Speaker 7: insurance is not active on my business right now. So
Speaker 7: getting these loans and getting these things in order is
Speaker 7: a huge deal for me.
Speaker 6: Have nothing.
Speaker 7: I've lost over six hundred thousand with my business.
Speaker 6: Wow, which a lifetime to achieve.
Speaker 7: So you know what am I supposed to do with
Speaker 7: no equipment and nothing.
Speaker 2: Well, we've got to do a weekend to get you
Speaker 2: back on your feed. And the fact you're even engaging
Speaker 2: in this conversation is remarkable. So it shows your unbelievable resilience.
Speaker 2: And I'm sorry as well. We're very mindful of what's
Speaker 2: going on with price gouging. It was one of the
Speaker 2: first acts we took now twelve days ago with the
Speaker 2: emergency proclamation. UH and it's question now of forcing it.
Speaker 2: Renting motels, hotels, they cannot they cannot exceed ten percent
Speaker 2: above what they were previously advertising before the fires, as
Speaker 2: it relates to those rates, And so I.
Speaker 7: Think we're asking now like of like proof of things
Speaker 7: like it's kind of wild. I'm you know, like I'm
Speaker 7: out of a job right now, but like I'm gonna
Speaker 7: hopefully get that back soon. And they're what they're asking
Speaker 7: me to like move in with I'm just and I
Speaker 7: understand as a landlord, like you want to make sure
Speaker 7: you have security on things. But it's when I started
Speaker 7: renting like five months ago. What they're asking now is
Speaker 7: completely insane.
Speaker 2: Yeah, now that's it's it's that's going to be. I mean,
Speaker 2: we're going to navigate that challenge and and and be
Speaker 2: much more muscular in terms of holding these folks accountable.
Speaker 2: The Attorney General reinforced that I had I extended the
Speaker 2: price gouging as well, so we've got a longer runway,
Speaker 2: and it's goods and services, it's obviously rentals and and
Speaker 2: it's now just driving accountability, also driving accountability to your
Speaker 2: point on FEMA and small business, as you know, FEMA
Speaker 2: has that that that modest just getting you started debit
Speaker 2: card which you know barely pays for gas.
Speaker 7: So much for taking the time with me today, and
Speaker 7: I just appreciate it.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Thanks so much, and I'm so sorry
Speaker 2: everything you're going through, Natalie.
Speaker 1: This is an iHeartRadio California town Hall with Governor Newsom. Next,
Speaker 1: we have Jim in Altadena, his home of twenty four
Speaker 1: years burned down. Jim, you're on with our governor.
Speaker 4: Good morning, Governor.
Speaker 2: How are you, Jim? How are you? How are you doing?
Speaker 2: How are you?
Speaker 4: I'm I'm encouraged.
Speaker 8: Everywhere I go I see so many smiling faces. You
Speaker 8: have no idea how people you're talking too?
Speaker 4: Lost a house.
Speaker 8: Everybody is giving. Everybody is giving. And went out to
Speaker 8: sand I needed to get some toys from my cats.
Speaker 8: And there were two lines. There was a line that
Speaker 8: was like three quarters a mile long and there was
Speaker 8: a real short line. I'm like, what's the difference between
Speaker 8: the lines? I said, oh, this line on the left,
Speaker 8: the three quarters of a mile. That's people making donations and
Speaker 8: bringing water and bringing dips and bringing food and bringing clothes.
Speaker 8: And they waited an hour maybe more to get in.
Speaker 8: And then when I got there, the number of volunteers
Speaker 8: was just overwhelming. People had a little tape on that
Speaker 8: said volunteer on it and there were maybe one to
Speaker 8: two to one, you know, people to volunteers. There were
Speaker 8: just so many people that are folding clothes and laying
Speaker 8: things out and writing numbers on. So maybe I'm still
Speaker 8: in shock. I had a front house with an inlaw house,
Speaker 8: and I rented out another rental property around the corner,
Speaker 8: so I lost three houses total.
Speaker 2: Wow, Jim, how long have you lived in the in
Speaker 2: the area?
Speaker 8: March would be twenty four years? WHOA, I moved down
Speaker 8: from northern California. I lived in born in Palo Alto,
Speaker 8: grew up in Los Altos in Sunny Vale, and then
Speaker 8: moved down here to get into the film industry way back.
Speaker 2: Can you can? I ask you to do a favor.
Speaker 2: It's so, I spent a lot of time in Altadena.
Speaker 2: In the last thing, you know, nine out of the
Speaker 2: last twelve days built out in the community. Describe the community.
Speaker 2: It is a special place. It's so unique, it's so
Speaker 2: really it's a it's a It's one of the most
Speaker 2: vibrant and diverse communities in our country.
Speaker 4: Oh, it really is, it really is.
Speaker 8: I've got Latino neighbors on both sides of me, Asian
Speaker 8: family two houses up, Filipino family, African American families, white families,
Speaker 8: you know, all living together, and they're just the best
Speaker 8: neighbors ever. And it's it's a it's a very artistic community.
Speaker 8: There's a lot of artists that were drawn to it.
Speaker 8: The reason I moved there is I like vintage things.
Speaker 8: I lost a jukebox in the fire. I lost you
Speaker 8: know a lot of collectible stuff. And my house was
Speaker 8: built in forty seven. It's a nineteen forty.
Speaker 4: Seven branch style. Yeah.
Speaker 8: And the houses across the street it was there was
Speaker 8: an art tech Thomas Jane, who you know, built all
Speaker 8: these houses and they were known as James Village and
Speaker 8: we've been trying for years to get a historical designation
Speaker 8: to it. It never happened. But they were you know, the
Speaker 8: ones through the storybook roofs and the keyhole entrances and
Speaker 8: it's just adorable. So there's there's a lot of like,
Speaker 8: there's visual aesthetic up there.
Speaker 4: You know, you're up there.
Speaker 8: You've got the Deodora trees, you got Christmas Tree Lane,
Speaker 8: You've got you know, such a visual aesthetic.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 8: I like to tell people, hey, we're up above the
Speaker 8: bad air, and any bad air that we do get
Speaker 8: blows east into Duarte.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Wow.
Speaker 8: But just everybody there, it's just it's a lot of pride,
Speaker 8: a lot of sense of community in Altadena, and a
Speaker 8: lot of families that I know that have been living
Speaker 8: there since the seventies, or people I know that moved away.
Speaker 8: They grew up there, they moved away. The neighbor across
Speaker 8: the street from me, she was raised in the house.
Speaker 8: She bought it, She and her husband bought it from
Speaker 8: their parents, raised their kids there, you know, then even
Speaker 8: had their grandkids there for a little bit. You know,
Speaker 8: their their house is gone. And my heart just breaks
Speaker 8: for especially for them.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 8: I know I have my own trials, but somebody like that,
Speaker 8: that's your whole life. I mean, it's it's you know,
Speaker 8: it's a special kind of people up there.
Speaker 2: No and and uh i'm I'm it's indelible. And having
Speaker 2: met so many members of the community, and and it
Speaker 2: requires a unique approach in the recovery and the assistance. Uh,
Speaker 2: we've got it, and we're deeply mindful. We've got to
Speaker 2: customize uh that and it's got to be community led,
Speaker 2: and we've got to get the community back. And that's
Speaker 2: my biggest fear about your neighborhood is that it doesn't
Speaker 2: look like the neighborhood you left that.
Speaker 8: Okay, And that was one of That was one of
Speaker 8: the questions. I came up with some questions to ask you,
Speaker 8: and that was one of mine. Is maintaining the aesthetic,
Speaker 8: you know, and I use for an example, Santa Barbara
Speaker 8: one hundred years ago, so much as Santa Barbara burned
Speaker 8: and then you know, and I don't know who made
Speaker 8: the decision, but we're going to build back Spanish style. Yeah,
Speaker 8: and so span you know, Santa Barbara now has that
Speaker 8: beautiful Spanish aesthetic to all the buildings and community buildings
Speaker 8: and libraries and houses and everything. It's got, you know,
Speaker 8: it's really got that aesthetic to it, you know. And
Speaker 8: so I don't know, do we have any control over that?
Speaker 8: Do we not have a control?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 8: Is that a county level is at a state level.
Speaker 8: And then you know, luckily I have state farm. I
Speaker 8: wasn't dropped, and I did an insurance review recently. Well
Speaker 8: and and but my concern is people that are under
Speaker 8: insured and don't have the money, and you know it
Speaker 8: it's more costly to build a house with a unique
Speaker 8: house than a cookie cutter house, and then a character
Speaker 8: house did a cost even more than that, And you know,
Speaker 8: do people want to do it? They just want to
Speaker 8: say I want to get my house back, and I
Speaker 8: know it could be a long process. So you know,
Speaker 8: that was one of my concerns.
Speaker 2: For sure, I appreciate it. So as we were quite
Speaker 2: literally battling the fires, we were also battling bureaucracy and
Speaker 2: starting to organize a framework for rebuilding and doing it
Speaker 2: from the bottom up, not the top down, and making
Speaker 2: sure it's a community lead process, community lead process. It's
Speaker 2: not the state, it's not the federal government mandating and dictating.
Speaker 2: And so what we're doing is clearing all of the
Speaker 2: bureaucratic brush from the rebuilding frame so that their state
Speaker 2: is not in the way and we're moving fast. So
Speaker 2: that's that includes the debris removal, where we did an
Speaker 2: executive order to get the HASMAT teams out there early
Speaker 2: and by the way, in your community, has the the
Speaker 2: damage assessments are almost done, which is great. They've got
Speaker 2: that done in record time, and the HASMAT teams will
Speaker 2: be out there starting to remove all the battery all
Speaker 2: batteries and and you know pro paying tanks, et cetera.
Speaker 2: And concurrently then the debris removal begin and you can
Speaker 2: opt in, as you know, if you have insurance. You
Speaker 2: can decide for yourself if you want to do your
Speaker 2: own debris removal, or you can do a right of
Speaker 2: entry where the Army Corps and their contractors could come
Speaker 2: in and do that. But concurrently, we'll be in this
Speaker 2: planning process. UH and the states trying to focus now
Speaker 2: on how we leverage supplies, how we leverage materials to
Speaker 2: keep prices and check, how we leverage workforce. Working with
Speaker 2: a community college and our state labor agencies, we're looking
Speaker 2: at regionalizing that workforce even out of state because we're
Speaker 2: mindful of the pressures across the spectrum. Hey, thank you
Speaker 2: for checking in, and more importantly, thank you for your spirit. Brother,
Speaker 2: thank you.
Speaker 8: For being Oh yeah, it's not just my spirit, it's
Speaker 8: everybody's spirits. I'm sure you've seen it walking around and
Speaker 8: I'm sure people take their time to cry, and like
Speaker 8: I said, I'll probably do my crying when everything settles down.
Speaker 8: But the things that brought tears to my eye are
Speaker 8: just the joy of people and the helping people, and
Speaker 8: you know, people overhearing. I was at breakfast and they're like, oh,
Speaker 8: we got your breakfast, don't worry, and just everybody wanted
Speaker 8: to help me. You know, I'm sure you've had this
Speaker 8: discussion many times, and you know, in the disaster, why can't.
Speaker 4: We stay like this?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know I love that.
Speaker 8: Well, thank you for everything you're doing, and thank you
Speaker 8: for the updates.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you. Thank you so much. I'm so sorry
Speaker 2: for everything you're struggling with going through.
Speaker 4: Keep it up, brother, Thank you and your team for
Speaker 4: everything you're doing.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: We have Julia up next in Hollywood. She worked in
Speaker 1: Palisades Village, which didn't burn down, but she currently can't
Speaker 1: work at the location because it's shut down. This is
Speaker 1: an iHeartRadio California town hall with Governor Newsom. Julia.
Speaker 9: You're on him, mister Newson.
Speaker 2: How are you, Julia? How are you?
Speaker 9: I'm okay. I'm a little stressed out. I did lose
Speaker 9: my job. Yeah, and unemployment is only paying me two
Speaker 9: hundred dollars a week, whereas at the restaurant I worked out,
Speaker 9: I made twelve hundred dollars a week.
Speaker 2: Twelve hundred a week. Yeah, we'll take a look at that.
Speaker 2: And I say that not just take a look at that.
Speaker 2: I just did a supplement with edd and the the
Speaker 2: Unemployment insurance to just quickly get an additional twenty million
Speaker 2: dollars directly into the region to supplement further. That's a
Speaker 2: perfect example that gap between where you were and where
Speaker 2: you need to be.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I also saw that as many as thirty five
Speaker 9: thousand jobs can be lost permanently because of the Los
Speaker 9: Angeles fires. For many workers like me living paycheck to paycheck,
Speaker 9: already struggling to pay bills, missing out on even a
Speaker 9: week's worth of work can be severely detrimental. Are you
Speaker 9: planning to introduce legislation to help disaster victims with debt
Speaker 9: relief such as temporary interest charge freezes, to forgiveness programs,
Speaker 9: or disaster related unemployment compensation.
Speaker 2: I appreciate the question, so let me tell you what
Speaker 2: we did yesterday, and forgive me for jumping around, but
Speaker 2: I just want to give you the totality of what
Speaker 2: we're doing in real time that are direct responses to
Speaker 2: your question and then broader. We have pushed back all
Speaker 2: state taxes till October fifteenth. We push back property taxes
Speaker 2: till April twenty two, twenty six, and people can apply
Speaker 2: for a four year deferral on interest and penalties related
Speaker 2: to property taxes. We're doing the same for sales and
Speaker 2: use tax for small business. We're extending those time periods.
Speaker 2: We are doing a two and a half billion dollar
Speaker 2: state supplemental to provide relief and flexibility to fill in
Speaker 2: the gaps along the lines of which you expressed. I
Speaker 2: talked about that twenty million just very quickly under the
Speaker 2: EDD through the unemployment insurance. We're working with the California
Speaker 2: Foundation and the Latino Community Foundation to provide millions and millions.
Speaker 2: We're going to raise hundreds of millions and philanthropic grants
Speaker 2: to fill gaps as well, all in an effort to
Speaker 2: provide support. We've got the price gouging rules as it
Speaker 2: relates to evictions as well. We're addressing that issue. We're
Speaker 2: trying to make sure that the rents and the costs
Speaker 2: for services and goods are capped and we just have
Speaker 2: to enforce that. And we're trying to get the SBA
Speaker 2: to move quickly on helping these businesses, these small businesses
Speaker 2: back on their feet as well.
Speaker 9: Thank you.
Speaker 2: I appreciate. I'm sorry what you're going through. I started
Speaker 2: the restaurant businesses. Uh, that's that's that's how I that's
Speaker 2: my my that's how I got out of college open
Speaker 2: my first restaurant. And I appreciate everything you do in
Speaker 2: that space and in the service industry and in the
Speaker 2: impact this is this has had on that industry in
Speaker 2: this region.
Speaker 10: Uh.
Speaker 2: But I hope you'll. I hope you'll you'll rebound and
Speaker 2: quickly and our team will fall up with you on
Speaker 2: the supplemental unemployment.
Speaker 9: Thank you. And is there like a timeline of when
Speaker 9: I'll be able to go.
Speaker 5: Back to work.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just I mean, we're moving heaven and earth
Speaker 2: to get the damage assessment work done in the Palisades,
Speaker 2: and then get the hazardous material material, which is phase
Speaker 2: one of the debris removal done within the next sixty days,
Speaker 2: and then currently starting the larger debris removal so people
Speaker 2: can start rebuilding for properties that have been completely damaged.
Speaker 2: People can come in individually, people with insurance. Businesses that
Speaker 2: were not impacted. Once we have the repopulation plans done
Speaker 2: and safety zones established and the utilities and suppression systems
Speaker 2: back up, we're hoping to get those businesses up and
Speaker 2: moving as quickly as possible. And SBA, we're hoping to
Speaker 2: hold them. I mean, we're not hoping we will hold
Speaker 2: them accountable to doing their job as well as well
Speaker 2: as our business, state, business agencies, and local and.
Speaker 9: Regional Do you think it's fair that some employees have
Speaker 9: been told to use paid time off to cover the
Speaker 9: miss wages.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I have to look into the details of that.
Speaker 2: I mean, we've expanded paid support and we actually just
Speaker 2: expanded in January, and this is important, higher reimbursement for
Speaker 2: lower wage workers. That was a that just went in
Speaker 2: effect in January. But that's that's something we're going to
Speaker 2: have to monitor. And I appreciate you bringing that up
Speaker 2: specifically as as an example of how some businesses may
Speaker 2: not necessarily be protecting their employees as they should. So
Speaker 2: thank you for that insight.
Speaker 9: Well, thank you for speaking to me.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm sorry what you're going through.
Speaker 1: Next is Jet from Los Angeles, a freshman at Palisades
Speaker 1: Charter High School. Sixty percent of the school burned down.
Speaker 1: Jet was evacuated and finally got word their house has
Speaker 1: power again this morning. Good and he's returning home today.
Speaker 1: Governor Newsom. This is Jet.
Speaker 11: How you doing buddy, Hi, Governor, I'm doing good.
Speaker 2: I can't even imagine how is how are you and
Speaker 2: the other your all your friends that you know having
Speaker 2: an impact at school? Man, that's something you'll never forget
Speaker 2: how you handle it.
Speaker 11: Yeah, So it's been a little bit like depressing in
Speaker 11: a way because I was really looking forward to this
Speaker 11: next semester of posades. Yeah, and then like literally even
Speaker 11: the matter of twenty four hours, like it all turned
Speaker 11: upside down and a lot of my friends have already
Speaker 11: transferred schools. A lot of my friends are moving different places,
Speaker 11: and yeah, it's just kind of crazy.
Speaker 2: What how about you? Are you? What do you? Are
Speaker 2: you able to? Have you transferred another district? What are
Speaker 2: your what's your current status?
Speaker 11: I think we're going to ride out this year and
Speaker 11: see what happens and maybe we get back on campus
Speaker 11: this year hopefully. But yeah, we're gonna finish this year.
Speaker 2: I think that's good. It's it's critical, and I appreciate
Speaker 2: your mindset in that respect. We it's it's cold comfort
Speaker 2: to you because it's a technical thing. But one of
Speaker 2: the first actions we took after the fire was allowing
Speaker 2: flexibility so you can transfer to another district nearby district
Speaker 2: and there were issues around class sizes and other technical
Speaker 2: state issues that we were able to wave through. But
Speaker 2: we'd love your feedback, not just today, just over the
Speaker 2: course the next days and months, if there's other things
Speaker 2: we can be doing. Things you're hearing, things you're hearing
Speaker 2: from the schools themselves, meaning from the administrators of other
Speaker 2: flexibilities and supports that we can provide. Okay, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: So did you are you back in school now?
Speaker 11: So our school was supposed to start on I think
Speaker 11: January fourteenth, but now we're starting on Tuesday this week
Speaker 11: online online.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you went through that with COVID as.
Speaker 11: Well, right, yeah, in fifth grade, like my whole year
Speaker 11: is online as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't imagine you're looking forward to that again.
Speaker 11: Huh No, Yeah, I'm not really looking forward to it.
Speaker 11: That's kind of been like the worst part because obviously,
Speaker 11: like the social part of high school life is like
Speaker 11: the best part.
Speaker 2: So of course, of course, well man, you're gonna come
Speaker 2: out stronger than you can't even imagine, more resilient than
Speaker 2: you can imagine, and the stuff you'll face in your
Speaker 2: life will pale and comparison to this. So you're going
Speaker 2: to crush it going forward.
Speaker 11: Brother, Thank you.
Speaker 2: I wish you all the best. And and let's stay
Speaker 2: in touch.
Speaker 11: All right, thank you, thank you man.
Speaker 1: Now we have Elizabeth in Malibu. She lost her home
Speaker 1: in the Palisades fire. Her business building is still standing,
Speaker 1: but it is inoperable. So Governor Newsom, this is Elizabeth.
Speaker 2: Hi, Elizabeth, how you holding in.
Speaker 10: I'm I'm doing okay. This has been a this has
Speaker 10: been a tough one.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 10: I've been through the ninety three fire, the Woolsey fire,
Speaker 10: the earthquake, COVID and and I have to say, of
Speaker 10: all of those, this is by far the toughest, the
Speaker 10: toughest one. You know, we're kind of looking to the
Speaker 10: government to help us. We you know, so I've lost
Speaker 10: I lost my home as well. So I lost my home.
Speaker 10: I lived over near the Getty Villa and that was
Speaker 10: just decimated. And you know, that's that's a tough loss.
Speaker 10: You know, it's all the kids, baby cups, and you know,
Speaker 10: all the memories that you have. It's just it's a
Speaker 10: really it's almost you kind of don't even really comprehend
Speaker 10: that that it's happened still, you know, because we haven't
Speaker 10: really been able to get up there and all of that.
Speaker 10: But one of my the question that I wanted to
Speaker 10: ask you, is that in in September of last year,
Speaker 10: I got a letter from State Farm and they dropped
Speaker 10: my insurance and so I had to try to get
Speaker 10: other insurance, couldn't get it because of where I live,
Speaker 10: and so then I was offered California a fair plan.
Speaker 4: Which I did.
Speaker 6: So, you know, they dropped me.
Speaker 10: And I've been with them for thirty years, not only
Speaker 10: not only in my residence but in my business. And
Speaker 10: you know, I just I find it incomprehensible that they
Speaker 10: can do that, and I'm you know, really asking you
Speaker 10: to see what you can help us with. You know,
Speaker 10: there's about sixteen hundred policies families that they've dropped. I
Speaker 10: mean that's not a lot. I mean in the scheme
Speaker 10: of their entire organization, that's not a lot. And you know,
Speaker 10: and I and I know that Governor I mean Commissioner
Speaker 10: Laura has asked them and they agreed to make it
Speaker 10: retroactive for ninety days, which is great. But you know,
Speaker 10: they started dropping people in March, and I feel like
Speaker 10: they should be taking care of us, you know, I mean,
Speaker 10: it's such a devastating time for us, and you know
Speaker 10: that their company is worth one hundred and thirty four
Speaker 10: billion dollars and you know to you know, and for
Speaker 10: California Fair Plan, it's a million dollars less than I
Speaker 10: had on my policy with State Farm.
Speaker 4: So it's a big hit.
Speaker 2: So a number of things. By the way, that's sixteen
Speaker 2: hundred you know what, You were exactly right. They dropped
Speaker 2: sixteen hundred plans about seventy percent of the market in
Speaker 2: that area to the commissioner, and I appreciate your reference
Speaker 2: to what he's trying to do in the cloudback. Also,
Speaker 2: moving forward, we extended a one year moratorium on the
Speaker 2: ability to drop the plan. It's not extended for commercial
Speaker 2: and we're trying to work a legislative strategy to address
Speaker 2: the commercial anxieties in that space moving forward, so they
Speaker 2: can't do this in the middle of this disaster. The
Speaker 2: Fair Plan that you're on, it's just for those that
Speaker 2: are not familiar with it, and I'll get to your
Speaker 2: specific concern. The Fair Plan was established in nineteen sixty eight.
Speaker 2: It's not a government plan, it's not taxpayer funded plan.
Speaker 2: It's a syndicate pool made up of all of these
Speaker 2: actual insurers that are in the market, including State Farm.
Speaker 2: But to your point, it caps at three million dollars.
Speaker 2: It doesn't provide the kind of coverage you can get
Speaker 2: on these admitted market based plans, and there's some questions.
Speaker 2: We're doing the assessment. There was a back of the
Speaker 2: envelope assessment and again this is back of the envelope
Speaker 2: about three point seven billion dollars of exposure just related
Speaker 2: to the Palisades fire. And we're getting the update of
Speaker 2: the impacts on the Eton fire as it relates to
Speaker 2: the exposure to the Fair Plan and how then the
Speaker 2: Fair Plan can pay everybody out in a timely way.
Speaker 2: They do have reinsurance, So I want to re ensure
Speaker 2: you that there is a reinsurance policy that that that
Speaker 2: should that should get us to look, you're going to
Speaker 2: get You're going to get what you deserve under that plan,
Speaker 2: and we're going to do everything to make sure that happens.
Speaker 2: But the broader issue of stabilizing this insurance market, to
Speaker 2: Commissioner Lara's credit, there was a lot of progress being
Speaker 2: made this last year. You can't make this up. In Paradise, Californi.
Speaker 2: After the campfire just last week, literally ten days ago
Speaker 2: or so, one of the major insurans announced they were
Speaker 2: reinsuring people in Paradise because of some of the reforms
Speaker 2: that were being made in the state to stabilize the
Speaker 2: insurance market. That's cold comfort, I know to you, but
Speaker 2: I want you to know that we're not reacting to
Speaker 2: that insurance crisis. We for a year and a half,
Speaker 2: I did an executive order and the Commissioner's been driving
Speaker 2: reforms that were finally making a difference in stabilizing the
Speaker 2: market and getting people back providing that coverage. But what
Speaker 2: you've exampled is accountability for a major insurer that just
Speaker 2: exited the market. And they may be smiling behind the
Speaker 2: scenes from a dollars and cents perspective, but it makes
Speaker 2: a lot of sense to me for you to ask
Speaker 2: someone like me and the Insurance Commission what the hell
Speaker 2: we can do to get them to face a little
Speaker 2: accountability on the impact they've just had on this community.
Speaker 10: I mean, I think from you know, March, you know,
Speaker 10: I think March is when they started dropping everybody, and
Speaker 10: it's just I mean, it's just so you know, there's
Speaker 10: no good faith there, there's no there's no you know,
Speaker 10: they're not they're not standing behind them. And again they're
Speaker 10: worth one hundred and thirty four billion dollars. And you
Speaker 10: know that that's off their twenty twenty three report. And
Speaker 10: they I believe they say, because I just actually had
Speaker 10: it pulled up weight of course, my phone just went
Speaker 10: out one sec. They said, we are financially strong one
Speaker 10: hundred and thirty four point eight billion dollars. And it
Speaker 10: just you know, to me when you know, you know,
Speaker 10: California Fair Plan, even with FEMA, it's not enough to
Speaker 10: build a home. You know, building out here is one
Speaker 10: thousand dollars a square foot, as you know, and that's low.
Speaker 10: And I mean, I'm an interior designer. I build all
Speaker 10: day long. I work with clients every single day, and
Speaker 10: you know that's low. So you know you're looking at
Speaker 10: a twenty three hundred square foot that's two million three
Speaker 10: that's I mean, nobody has that money from their insurance policies.
Speaker 6: And so what are we going to you know, what
Speaker 6: are we going to do? How are we going to.
Speaker 10: Build back the beautiful Pacific Palisades, which is one of
Speaker 10: the most I grew up in Connecticut and New Canaan, Connecticut.
Speaker 10: It's gorgeous little town and the Palisades is just like
Speaker 10: that you know, right close to the beach and so
Speaker 10: and the community is so tight and so strong, and
Speaker 10: I know we will build back, but you know, I
Speaker 10: just it's it's just really I hope that you guys
Speaker 10: can help us, because it's such a tough space for
Speaker 10: us to be in.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I'm deeply mindful in the rebuild. And you
Speaker 2: may have seen we are suspending the Coastal Act and sequel.
Speaker 2: We're driving permitting reform and doing everything to move having
Speaker 2: and earth to make sure that when we rebuild some
Speaker 2: of the burdens and costs and delays all that is removed,
Speaker 2: as well as looking at some larger master pulled contracts
Speaker 2: to lower construction costs and supply chain issues including workforce
Speaker 2: which is going to be scarce as well, so that
Speaker 2: we don't see those costs skyrocket. And then address, as
Speaker 2: you say, the gaps between insurance and that reality on rebuilding.
Speaker 2: And that's where this massive philanthropic effort is going to
Speaker 2: take shape. We've already raised tens of millions of dollars,
Speaker 2: We're about to announce significantly more in the next few
Speaker 2: hours in fact, and then we're going to be asking
Speaker 2: the federal government to get back some of California tax
Speaker 2: pair of money, including yours as a donor state California,
Speaker 2: and a massive supplemental in Congress, so we can fill
Speaker 2: those gaps and we can address that concern you just highlighted.
Speaker 6: Okay, thank you so much, Governor. I really appreciate your time.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Pam has our final question in Pacific Palisades. She lost
Speaker 1: her home of twenty eight years. Pam, you're on with
Speaker 1: Governor Newsom.
Speaker 2: Hi, Hi, Pam.
Speaker 12: Thank you for the time today.
Speaker 2: Governor are you holding up?
Speaker 12: Oh well? Shout out to all of our friends and
Speaker 12: strangers of the city of Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: Ela.
Speaker 12: You've hugged us. Thank you, Governor Newson. We've heard discussions
Speaker 12: and the possibility to live in an RV or a
Speaker 12: tiny home or mobile on our property while we rebuild.
Speaker 12: I think, wow, what a savings and rent. We can
Speaker 12: apply those funds to a rebuild. We have a smaller property,
Speaker 12: and so of those who have smaller properties, would it
Speaker 12: be possible to have an opportunity to have a parking
Speaker 12: permit on the street? Oh yeah, or create an area,
Speaker 12: a designated area that has community services.
Speaker 5: Where we could park.
Speaker 12: Maybe we can pull in park in the nighttime when
Speaker 12: materials are delivered, we can move to another area of
Speaker 12: the town. I just I love the idea and I
Speaker 12: love that opportunity, and I love.
Speaker 2: Your example, particularly with smaller units. You're right, I mean,
Speaker 2: you know, we had in mind that people could be
Speaker 2: in a larger driveway footprint as the buildings being constructed
Speaker 2: next to it, but yours is a perfect example where
Speaker 2: that may be constrained. And so absolutely, it's a great
Speaker 2: specific example that we need to work with the cities
Speaker 2: that have been impacted to see if we can accommodate.
Speaker 2: By the way, Pam, thank you for even recognizing I
Speaker 2: did one of these eleven executive orders, which are just
Speaker 2: fancy ways of just like no time to process laws.
Speaker 2: We're just making them to allow people to have ADUs
Speaker 2: to allow them to have trailers on their property as
Speaker 2: they rebuild. So we've dealt with zoning issues in that respect.
Speaker 2: But you're talking now about a public right away as
Speaker 2: it relates to the public space and the parking, and
Speaker 2: that's something we can run up the flag pole and
Speaker 2: it's a great example of something that we could push
Speaker 2: local government to accommodate. And by the way, just broadly
Speaker 2: We're working with FEMA on massive, massive investments and procurement,
Speaker 2: on providing people that don't have the means of even
Speaker 2: providing for their our own temporary facility to construct these
Speaker 2: prefab these units and get them out in operational and
Speaker 2: on these properties as quick as possible.
Speaker 12: Sprinters with wheels, our v's with wheels. We can be
Speaker 12: there at night, move during the day when materials get
Speaker 12: deliver it anyway. I love I love this out of
Speaker 12: the box thinking so thank you, no, thank you?
Speaker 2: And and if I may Pam, how long how long
Speaker 2: you've been living in the community.
Speaker 12: Since nineteen ninety six, so what is that twenty nine?
Speaker 12: My mouth is bad. Yeah, while a long time. We
Speaker 12: love our neighbors. We hope to be back with all
Speaker 12: of our neighbors. And it's just unbelievable. This is it's
Speaker 12: the wild wild West by the way out there trying
Speaker 12: to secure a rental. We have crazy stories. I'm like
Speaker 12: in a reality show without cameras, but it's horrific and
Speaker 12: crazy right.
Speaker 2: Now, just meaning how people are taking advantage of this crisis.
Speaker 12: It's just it's a numbers uh scarce inventory, which there
Speaker 12: always was, and now you have all these extra people
Speaker 12: who need housing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's why this example you brought up is
Speaker 2: so important, because it will be critical to accommodate and
Speaker 2: uh and and to supplement that scarcity of supply. I'm
Speaker 2: sorry everything you're going through, but thank you for your
Speaker 2: spirit and thank you for for your insight. And I'm
Speaker 2: going to circle back very quickly on your specific example.
Speaker 12: All right, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2: So I just want to thank everybody all these remarkable stories,
Speaker 2: remarkable people. Thank you for your resilience, thank you for
Speaker 2: your willingness to share your stories so publicly, your heartbreak.
Speaker 2: But one thing I just you know, reflecting on the
Speaker 2: conversations we just had, was thank you for maintaining your
Speaker 2: your your your spirit. Thank you for expressing your pride
Speaker 2: in your communities, uh, your love of your neighbor. Thank
Speaker 2: you for for staying optimistic and not giving in. You know,
Speaker 2: is remarkable that here's the story is just reminding us
Speaker 2: what everybody's been through, you know, with COVID and you know,
Speaker 2: just you know, a young child that you know they're
Speaker 2: back on zoom again years and years later, and the
Speaker 2: challenges everybody is faced over the course the last decade.
Speaker 2: And here we are at this remarkable moment in the
Speaker 2: history of Southern California, in our state, and and so
Speaker 2: my state of minds want to resolve, not just resilient.
Speaker 2: And I hope all of you stay strong and resolved.
Speaker 2: I know we have your back, and we're going to
Speaker 2: be back. We're not turning our backs when the cameras
Speaker 2: turn off. We're going to continue to monitor progress. We're
Speaker 2: going to hold ourselves to a higher level of accountability
Speaker 2: with humility and grace, constantly iterating, constantly addressing issues seen
Speaker 2: but also the issues that are unseen today that will
Speaker 2: present themselves a new I heard loud and clear some
Speaker 2: of the frustrations with FEMA applications, SBA disaster loans and
Speaker 2: the importance of making sure that process is more streamlined
Speaker 2: and more seamless. I want to mind everybody that wants
Speaker 2: just basic information across the spectrum of federal supports, state support,
Speaker 2: as well as local support. We've got this website CAA
Speaker 2: dot gov slash LA Fires CAA dot gov slash la Fires,
Speaker 2: which aggregates all that information can help you navigate through
Speaker 2: all of this. This California Rises Fund we've created is
Speaker 2: a great fund working with the California Fire Foundation to
Speaker 2: support no overhead in this to support critical programs for
Speaker 2: those in critical need. And then this La Rises Council
Speaker 2: we just announced is all about building back, stronger, more resilient,
Speaker 2: addressing so many of the concerns that were brought up
Speaker 2: in today's conversation. So on behalf of all of us,
Speaker 2: all forty one hundred and forty million Californians, and all
Speaker 2: of us there are still act there sixteen thousand personnel
Speaker 2: still active addressing the challenges and needs of people. I
Speaker 2: just want to thank you all of you for joining
Speaker 2: us today and again, please stay in touch and engage
Speaker 2: and go to c A dot gov slash La Fires
Speaker 2: for more information.