Gov. Newsom Celebrates Palisades Fire ‘Recovery’ – Except Residents Say ‘NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE’

“Governor Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom will be joined by federal, state and local leaders to recognize the six month anniversary of the devastating firestorms that hit Los Angeles, as well as the progress made and steps being taken to rebuild and restore the communities affected,” a press release by the governor’s office sent out Sunday said.

Is there any real “progress” to report 6 months after the devastating fires? When I received this email from the governors office Sunday, I thought it was a pretty strange event to celebrate or even highlight… particularly given the lack of rebuilding and the failure of Los Angeles politicians, the governor and the state of California.  I included photos in this article of Pacific Palisades I took in February, and additional photos a friend in Palisades took Monday. 

This is political for the governor. This staged event ended up being a love-fest for Governor Gavin Newsom and the First Partner, a launching for Newsom to go to South Carolina to begin his presidential campaign. The fire recovery was clearly secondary.

And it was so obvious – even worse than watching a love fest at a huge fundraiser.

The bottom line with Gov. Newsom’s press conference – no one learned anything new today – 6 months later. The governor and local bureaucrats said the same things today they said one week, two weeks, one month after the fires – thanking first responders for their bravery, and complimenting each other for their responses to clean-up and permitting.

Notably, the federal government handled the cleanup – FEMA, the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers.

However, what is also obvious is that President Donald Trump is living rent-free in Gov. Newsom’s head as Newsom many times referred to President Trump’s “cruelty,” called him “cruel” and “inhumane,” and discussed the President’s “weakness” “arrogance and ignorance” during the press conference.

“What a disgrace. What theater. Horseback running through kids soccer fields — says everything you need to know about the state of mind, the polluted heart of the President, and the polluted heart of Stephen Miller,” Newsom said, while patting himself on the back for a job well-done.

“This has been the fastest fire recovery in terms of debris removal in modern history” said Gov. Newsom, talking about “leading into the next phase at a historic pace.”

“Ric Grenell, his so-called czar, had the audacity to attack this state today, on this anniversary, for not raking its forest,” Newsom whimpered. He blamed President Trump for a new fire on federal lands in Southern California, “for not raking it – Donald Trump’s forest.”

“Tough guy. Tough guy,” Newsom said dismissively of the President, clearly already in campaign mode.

The Globe was in Pacific Palisades in February with Ric Grenell, special presidential envoy for special missions, and President Trump’s White House representative on the ground in California, making things happen with residents, and representatives from federal, state and local agencies.

Grenell and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin met with residents amid the fire devastation in the Pacific Palisades, as well as with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Major General Jason Kelly, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regional administrator Bob Fenton, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and colleagues and staffers.

Grenell facilitated discussion between residents, who were living in motels, hotels VRBO and AirBNB rentals, and government officials, to solve residents’ immediate problems and prepare for long term concerns.

And notably, at one point, Grenell warned federal, state and local officials to cut the bullshit pushing DEI for subcontractors on debris removal. He told them to bring in all contracting teams who want to help.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been 6 months,” each speaker said on Monday at Newsom’s press conference. Speakers all demonstrated their high-level incompetence by barely mentioning the lack of progress, or the long-suffering residents who are still going through recovery, and used the press conference as a political platform. Politicians who spoke focused on each other, dishing out syrupy compliments and barked out meaningless political platitudes.

Senator Alex Padilla used the opportunity to complain about National Guard members being used at the border, rather than preparing for the upcoming fire season. And he took shots at President Trump for his critique of FEMA (after the North Carolina hurricane and flooding), and added, “This is not the time to threaten construction workers in our communities.”

Sen. Padilla thanked Gov. Newsom for his “tirelessness” with the fire recovery,  and he thanked the “First Partner.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you” Senator Alex Padilla said.

Rep. Judy Chiu thanked Governor Newsom for his “incredibly strong and unwavering leadership.”

Chiu bravely said that “disasters are not political.”

“This is the United States of America, and we help our citizens wherever they are and whatever they need,” she added, clearly a clip to be used in a future campaign.

Rep. Brad Sherman thanked Gov. Newsom “so much” for his “pre-planning” ahead of the fires (what?). He thanked President Biden. He claimed President Trump held the victims of the LA fires hostage until insurance laws could be changed. Then he promoted the governor’s request for $40Billion from the federal government. “I can assure the country we are going to ‘Build Back Better’,” Sherman said. “We’re going to get the federal aid Southern California is entitled to.”

“I couldn’t have a better partner than Senator Alex Padilla, and the governor couldn’t have a better partner than Jennifer Seibel Newsom,” Sherman said, handing off the mic to the First Partner.

Siebel-Newsom gave her speech in Espanol. When she broke out in English, she talked about climate disasters, as if the LA fires were ignited by climate change. “This is California love and we remain California strong,” she ended.

Newsom’s charade Monday didn’t escape Gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton’s notice, who held his own press conference:

…Gavin Newsom just bragged about the “historic pace” of debris removal after the fires. Six months ago he promised a “Marshall Plan” but he can’t even clear a sidewalk. The evidence of Newsom’s lies and incompetence is all around us.”

Besides suspending regulations in order to get rebuilding done, Gov. Newsom signed a price gouging law which prohibits price increases of more than 10% during a declared state of emergency, and applies to a range of goods and services including residential rentals – resulting in people in Los Angeles not being able to rent their homes out at market rates.

“People legitimately need to rent their homes out and should be able to do it at the market price – without Gavin’s intervention,” Ric Grenell told the Globe. “Gavin is clueless about how the real world works.”

Electioneering

Gavin Newsom used his 6-month fire progress press conference to launch his presidential campaign. There was no new information provided – only Southern California politicians showing their love for Governor Newsom and his “First Partner.”

This was a despicable display of electioneering using a disaster to curry favor.

“If California Governor Gavin Newsom really cared about the people and what is good for the state, he would have led the Los Angeles Palisades fire cleanup and rebuild,” the Globe said in May. “It is evident that Gavin Newsom does not care about those people, even though they voted for him. He had an opportunity to do the right thing, but it would have required hard work, sincerity, and human compassion.”

“Progress”

“Some are still struggling to get permits,” Gov. Newsom said quietly, hoping no one would notice.

According to this Los Angeles County recovery and permitting “progress” dashboard, 1 single family residence permit has been issued in Palisades, though the top of the dashboard says 12 have been issued.

The governor’s state dashboard showing phases of cleanup, and permits to rebuild are way off –  65% on debris and only 7 permits of 1000 submitted have been granted.

Perhaps the most informative moment we all can watch today comes courtesy of Adam Corolla, who was burned out of his Malibu home, and started right away recording video of the areas.

Corolla has been doing regular tours of the fire areas, and posted this video 6 months later:

He revisits a past episode of The Adam Carolla Show recorded in the aftermath to reflect on his predictions about the rebuilding process. “NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE!?” he wrote.