The Bill’s Adding Up for Los Angeles

Ah, those fires.

Lord, are they going to be expensive. 

And that’s in today’s dollars – not in ‘down the road’ dollars, after the elected California officials get done doing everything they can to make the cost projections even worse.

This is so grim.

Last month’s Palisades and Eaton wildfires caused between $28 billion and $53.8 billion in property damage, with business disruptions projected to result in economic losses of up to $8.9 billion in Los Angeles County alone over the next five years, according to a study published Thursday.

The report commissioned by the Southern California Leadership Council and the LA County Economic Development Corporation studies the impacts of the destruction and economic havoc caused by the fires and offers data-driven recommendations to guide recovery efforts.

The study estimates that the fires could lead to up to 49,110 job-years lost and reductions in labor income of up to $3.7 billion, while federal, state and local governments could experience tax revenue losses ranging from $730 million to $1.4 billion.

They’re firing up the recall efforts again in the wake of these disasters, but I’m not sure what good that will do. The worst of these slimy toads always seem to escape any accountability.

Mel Gibson denounced California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for their involvement in the Palisades and Eaton fires that devastated Southern California communities.

Gibson joined Saving California for a news conference in Altadena Wednesday and its efforts to recall Newsom.

“We deserve much more and much better, and there is absolutely no adequate excuse the governor or mayor can make for this gross mismanagement and failure to preemptively deal with what they knew was coming,” Gibson said, referring to Newsom and Bass, according to KTLA.

Like that grinning gargoyle of a mayor – Karen Bass fired the fire chief as if that would help mitigate her mayoral responsibility. 

Kristen Crowley is now petitioning to get her job back. I would love to hear what she has to say.

Former Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristen Crowley is appealing her firing by Karen Bass with the Los Angeles City Council.

It will be interesting to see if the City Council upholds the mayor’s decision or sees Crowley as a victim of Bass’ scapegoating pic.twitter.com/vbuY9AJD6g

— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) February 28, 2025

Crowley already has support from members of the city council. As unpopular as the mayor is right now, she may well garner more.

…At least two council members — Monica Rodriguez and Traci Park — have spoken out against Crowley’s firing and encouraged her to appeal the decision.

Immediately after Crowley was fired, Rodriguez released a statement saying, “Chief Crowley remains the most qualified member of the LA City Fire Department that earned her well deserved appointment as Fire Chief. I am outraged by the scapegoating revealed by the Mayor’s actions. I plan to use my authority as a Councilmember to set the record straight and encourage Chief Crowley to appeal the Mayor’s baseless termination to the City Council. The public deserves a full account of every single leadership failure that has taken place.”

Several firefighters and the union that represents the city’s firefighters have also spoken in support of Crowley and say she should be reinstated. 

What they’re saying:

The group, Los Angeles Women in the Fire Service, sent a letter to Mayor Bass, LA City Council, and the Board of Fire Commissioners demanding Crowley be reinstated as chief. 

The letter stated that Bass’ removal of Crowley was “inaccurate, and a blatant attempt to shift blame to where it does not belong.”

Who knows if any of these myopic progressives have the decency to get out of the way of a process that, under the best circumstances, is going to take years? Under the smothering cloak of regulations and incessant interference of the police state that is California, it might never happen.

…LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said the disaster “has left lasting scars on our community” and the entire region — “not only in terms of physical destruction but in economic hardships.”

Echoing Davis’ comments, Barger said the county’s best path forward is expediting issues surrounding the rebuilding process. “I am laser-focused on streamlining” those issues, she said.

Stephen Cheung, president and chief executive of LAEDC, said a best-case scenario would be recovery by 2029, but the process could take many more years. The impact of the fires would grow with the length of the recovery period, he added.

Steps toward recovery, according to the report, include fast-tracking rebuilding efforts through coordinated permitting processes and financial incentives, can reduce recovery timelines by up to 50%, strengthening fire-prone communities with improved emergency response systems, microgrids and fire-resistant construction materials and methods as required in California’s current building codes.

As if we don’t have bigger problems. The quoted sound very vindictive to the fact people HAD TO hire their own fire crew because clearly Los Angeles and our Governor failed to build out infrastructure. This is disappointing https://t.co/dre8nsXfeJ

— Denise Aguilar (@InformedMama209) February 27, 2025

Speaking of those ‘economic hardships’ the County Supervisor is so worried about, perhaps she should have spoken of her concern to the rest of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors because it doesn’t appear that they fully grasp what causes ‘economic hardships.’ It’s not just fires or losing your jobs.

It’s when the county arbitrarily decrees that people don’t have to pay the rent they owe you for almost six months, too. That qualifies as a hardship.

It seems that there will be no unfortunate incidents large or small anywhere on earth that won’t result in LA county renters being able skip out on their rent going forward.

— Jeff (@_FlipMan) February 28, 2025

*sigh*

…“I will tell you that I felt absolutely terrible not being here for my city,” Bass told Michaelson with a cheerful and reassuring smile, before affirming that she is running for re-election in 2026.

Voters should take a cue from Bob Fosse and invite her to leave the theater immediately,

They don’t call it La-La-Land for nothing.