The damage from January's disastrous Eaton Fire primarily impacted unincorporated, urbanized Altadena. Some of the Eaton Fire's destruction occurred within the cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre.  Most, though not all, of the neighborhoods destroyed by the concurrent Palisade Fire were within the City of Los Angeles. The cities and Los Angeles County have been dealing with the aftermath.

It has now been 6 months since the Eaton Fire did its business on unincorporated Altadena. After the horrible firestorms were over, the cleanup and restoration began. And it remains a work in progress in Altadena. Impediments to rebuilding include toxic contamination, utilities, permits, financing, and - most recently -  elected officials vying for power. No, not the officials of the Altadena Library District (the community's only independent, locally-controlled government entity), the County Board of Supervisors (BOS). The Supervisors are the "municipal government" for unincorporated communities like Altadena.

While LA County has almost 10 million people, over 1 million of those residents live in more than 100 unincorporated communities for which LA County provides municipal services. And that's in addition to the County's areawide responsibilities for the entire population. With just 5 members on the BOS, it's easy to see that the needs of those 1 million people in those more than 100 unincorporated communities can routinely get lost in the noise. That's not the case for the cities, which have Mayors and City Councils and provide their own municipal services.

As the drumbeat grew for renewal of the fire-damaged areas, the legislators who serve those areas pushed for new laws to make the rebuilding process easier and more timely. Among them are:

• Senate Bill 782, authored by State Senator Sasha Perez of Alhambra, which would create a Climate Resilience District to fund the climate hardening of affected disaster communities through “expedited” means. It is wanted by the City of Los Angeles and the BOS.
• Senate Bill 549, authored by State Senator Ben Allen of Santa Monica, would create a Countywide Rebuilding Authority to rebuild the Palisades and Altadena. It is wanted by the County of Los Angeles, in particular Supervisor Lindsay Horvath and her Blue Ribbon Commission. 
• Assembly Bill 797, by Assemblyman John Harabedian of Pasadena, would establish a mechanism to bring in funding from banks through the federal Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and would deploy those funds to purchase land and hold it in “trust” for a period of time, thereby providing the community with stabilization for property owners to sell or receive a bid at Fair Market Prices that existed before the fires. It is what the people fo Altadena want.

Also, on July 1st, the LA County BOS took up a resolution to authorize County Counsel to examine the creation of a Countywide Rebuilding Authority. It was opposed by the local communities, but the Supervisors passed it anyway. To the local people, the resolution seemed like just another way for the County to assert power and steamroll the community. 

The residents of Altadena are concerned that both SB 782 and SB549 are bad for their community, vesting authority with the County and City of Los Angeles even though both entities have failed to meet the needs of the fire victims. They feel those bills will just layer another bureaucratic authority on top of the community and use Enhanced Infrastructure Finance District (EIFD) financing, not as EIFD financing has been intended and while also not containing the proper financing mechanisms to meet the needs of the community. Further, they are unhappy that those jurisdictions have taken steps to promote those bills without true community input. Altadenans prefer AB797, which they believe would give them a true voice, one not reliant on an unresponsive County. They want local control. If the cities have it, why can't Altadena?

The three bills have passed their respective houses in the Legislature and are now seeking approval from the other house, as is necessary for bills to become law. There are only a few weeks left in the legislative session, which adjourns in early September. Procedures in the Legislature require bills to pass out of policy committees by next week, due to the Summer Recess that begins on July 18th. Once the legislators return to the Capitol on August 18th, the bills must be passed by fiscal committees by August 29th and go to full house floor sessions. Bills may not be amended in floor sessions after September 5th and must be passed by September 12th, when the current session ends. If approved by each legislative house, bills will go to the Governor, who can sign the bills into law, enable them to become law without his signature, or veto the bills.

The legislative committee hearings that will be held next week are therefore pivotal. Anyone with an opinion on those bills will need to weigh in before Tuesday July 15th for AB797 (at the Senate Judiciary Committee) and Wednesday, July 16th for SB782 and SB549 (at the Assembly Local Government Committee) by contacting their legislators and the policy committees. In support of our participating community of Altadena, California (un)Incorporated has submitted letters opposing SB782 and SB549.