Fire recovery
A previous fire left smoldering. A chaotic evacuation. Inadequate firefighter staffing and pre-deployment. And a Mayor who was out of the country while the fire raged. And instead of learning from its mistakes, the city tried to cover up responsibility by altering the after-action report.
The immediate aftermath was dysfunctional, and the rebuilding effort has been indefensibly slow. It has been nearly 17 months since the fires, and there is still no plan for rebuilding and no one in charge. The Mayor's "Chief Recovery Officer" left after 90 days in April 2025, and no replacement has been named since. Instead of clear accountability, we've spent millions on consulting firms and have little to show for it.
And it's not just the rebuilding that's falling short. It's the ineffective advocacy and attention to what families are actually navigating: insurance companies that wear families down until they give up, permits that take months to clear, contaminated homes you can't safely return to, and speculators making lowball offers to displaced families and businesses.
Preparing for and managing red flag conditions, emergencies, and high fire risk is an essential part of the Mayor's job. Recovery is too.
Our plan
Champion the creation of a “Recovery District.” The Palisades recovery is currently spread across more than twelve agencies, with no single accountable entity responsible for getting families home. State law allows Los Angeles to set up a special-purpose office called a Recovery District that can coordinate the recovery across jurisdictions, bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the Palisades, and ensure that local residents are at the table when decisions are made. The District will be funded by new property tax revenue generated as homes are rebuilt and reassessed, federal disaster grants, state funding, and philanthropic dollars, generating new resources for the Palisades without diverting from other city priorities or raising taxes. The Mayor's Office should be its strongest advocate. So far, it has been silent.
Put one person in charge. The Recovery District will be led by an Executive Director with the authority to cut through agency silos, move fast, and deliver results.
Build a board that puts Palisades residents at the table. State law requires a board of three City elected officials and two community members to oversee the District's public funds and approve major decisions. We will also support additional advisory governance so the recovery is shaped by the people living through it.
Deliver a truly integrated permitting system with one intake, one timeline, and one point of accountability.
Permitting should be straightforward. In Altadena, LA County signed a formal MOU between its rebuild departments establishing a Unified Permitting Authority with simultaneous interdepartmental reviews. Although City Hall created a physical office with co-located staff, the underlying workflows and approvals were kept separate. We will deliver an integrated system.
Expand pre-approved standard plans that meet fire code, self-certification for licensed architects and engineers, and expedited review for like-for-like rebuilds.
Help families get their rebuilds certified through the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety's Wildfire Prepared Home program, which is already recognized by major insurers. We will ensure pre-approved rebuild plans meet the certification's standards and help families get insured.
Stand with residents in their struggle with insurance companies. No family should be forced to itemize their lives to access coverage they've already paid for. We will direct the city to use every tool available, including legal action and formal complaints to the Insurance Commissioner, to push back on tactics that function to wear families down until they give up. We will also fight for smoke damage survivors. Those whose homes are contaminated with ash, lead, and other pollutants have been left behind, with their claims denied by insurance companies, and not enough support from their government.
Fight at the state level for insurance reforms that actually work, including gap assistance for the thousands of families whose coverage falls short of what it costs to rebuild. AB 1642, which sets health standards for contaminated homes and provides a framework for insurance companies to provide proper remediation, is currently moving through the legislature, and Gov. Newsom has proposed a fund to help fill the gaps between the costs of rebuilding and insurance coverage. Both of these are important, but even more is needed.
Convene insurers, builders, and government agencies to establish a clear standard for what makes a Palisades home and neighborhood insurable. The standard should include the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home certification, brush clearance, and firefighting infrastructure. If a home and neighborhood meet that standard, affordable insurance should be available.
Help displaced renters and small businesses come home, and push back against corporate speculation. The community that burned was economically diverse, and the community that returns should be too. The Recovery District offers a pathway to put financing in place so people at every income level can come back. We will do everything we can to help the Palisades’ small business community come back, and ensure they are not replaced by generic corporate brands that change the character of this community.
Advocate relentlessly for the support that residents need from the state and federal government. A recovery at this scale cannot be funded by Los Angeles alone. The federal disaster relief requested by the state has gone unanswered for over a year and the state has not yet delivered the gap assistance families need to bridge their insurance shortfalls. We will fight for both, and work across coalitions and jurisdictions to bring the Palisades the resources needed to rebuild and come home.
Fire Safety & Resiliency
Los Angeles is facing fire and emergency risks that grow more severe every year, and our systems haven't kept up. The January 2025 fires showed the gap: brush clearance lagged in the neighborhoods that needed it most, evacuation routes weren't clear when it mattered, and emergency communications left residents confused about whether to stay or go. Fire safety cannot sit within a single department. It depends on coordinated action across Fire, Public Works, City Planning, Transportation, DWP, and Emergency Management. When that coordination breaks down the consequences are measured in lost homes, lost lives, and lost trust.
Our Plan
Build resilience and interagency coordination for multiple lines of defense. Reservoirs were empty when they should have been full. Hydrants were not checked and repaired. Brush clearance had not kept pace with fire risk, and departments did not prepare ahead of known red-flag conditions. The agencies responsible for each of these failures didn't fail in isolation. They failed because no one was leading and holding them all accountable to the same plan. Coordinating departments and agencies across jurisdictions and preparing for emergencies before they happen is a core part of the Mayor's job. Under Nithya’s leadership, it will happen.
Fix the water infrastructure: Reservoirs, tanks, and hydrant systems in high fire severity zones must be fully operational and maintained year-round, with a transparent inspection schedule so critical infrastructure is never offline during peak fire season. We will also build formal operational protocols between LADWP and LAFD so firefighting water is never dependent on a single point of failure.
Take brush clearance seriously. Deploy dedicated year-round vegetation management crews, with aggressive clearance on city-owned hillsides, parks, and open space near residential communities. Provide real support for seniors and lower-income homeowners to meet brush clearance and defensible space requirements safely.
Support a permanent funding structure for fire mitigation. The Blue Ribbon Commission recommended a Los Angeles County Fire Control District to sustainably fund brush clearance, vegetated buffer zones, and retrofits for vulnerable neighborhoods. This is something worth investing in.
Pre-deploy firefighters and equipment during red-flag conditions and strengthen early warning systems. Prepare for evacuations in hillside communities where a single road out is the difference between life and death through tabletop exercises and appropriate infrastructure investment.
Publish citywide fire and EMS response performance data, with neighborhood-level data on response times, unit availability, and deployment gaps.
Apply the lessons of the Palisades to every fire-prone neighborhood. The interagency coordination, infrastructure investment, brush clearance, and evacuation planning Nithya commits to for the Palisades will be expanded to every community in a Very High Fire Severity Zone.
Build a crisis communications system Angelenos can trust. In moments of emergency, confusion can be as dangerous as the disaster itself. We will deliver fast, reliable, and coordinated alerts that reach people across languages, platforms, and neighborhoods.