LA to hire consulting firm to oversee rebuilding of Pacific Palisades

The city of Los Angeles is poised to farm out the task of overseeing the rebuilding of more than 5,500 homes burned to the ground this month in Pacific Palisades.

Mayor Karen Bass and Steve Soboroff, the city’s newly appointed recovery czar, announced a plan to hire an outside consultant to manage “a significant rebuilding contract” to get the job done, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Details about the breadth of the upcoming contract are few. Bass said the city is looking at bids from “major firms,” and would announce a selection this week.

The firm will represent the city in the wildfire recovery process — including performing damage assessments, monitoring air and water quality, interacting with federal agencies and making sure L.A. gets as much federal money as possible, Soboroff told the Times during a media walk-through of the devastation.

“They’re going to represent you and make sure that everybody does exactly what they say they’re going to do,” Soboroff said, nodding to the Palisades community members at the edge of a news conference.

It’s not clear why the nation’s second largest city can’t manage the job itself.

The outside firm appears likely to have standing that would allow it to wield direct or indirect authority over contractors, subcontractors and service providers in the extensive cleanup and rebuilding process.

Soboroff, a civic leader and real estate developer, agreed to work as chief recovery officer inside and outside the city bureaucracy to speed recovery. His undetermined salary will be paid by private groups.

More than 5,500 homes have been destroyed in the Palisades fire, including the house where Soboroff raised his kids, according to the Times.

Bass and Soboroff and Bass promised to announce numerous initiatives to rebuild the Palisades from the ashes.

The city is expected to unveil a mobile app to allow homeowners to get real-time updates on the environmental cleanup and permitting at their properties, Soboroff said.

At a burned-out Ralphs, Soboroff said he was planning to call the supermarket to inquire about installing a “pop up” grocery store. “We have a whole bunch of ideas,” Soboroff told the Times.

Enough debris could be cleared in time to launch a July 4 Independence Day parade, he said.

That may be up to Uncle Sam.

Bass has faced pressure since a meeting last week, where President Trump suggested that residents should be able to immediately return to their former homes to clear debris. A representative from the Army Corps of Engineers estimated that stripping away hazardous waste from blackened neighborhoods could take 18 months.

The mayor promised the cleanup would be finished as quickly as possible, but said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in charge of the first phase of debris removal, hasn’t been able to mark a date for completion.

“What is so difficult for people to understand right now, especially if their place was destroyed, is it’s really toxic, it’s dangerous for them to be there,” Bass told reporters.

— Dana Bartholomew