Mayor Bass Taps Hagerty Consulting for LA Rebuild Lead

Los Angeles has tapped Hagerty Consulting, based in a Chicago suburb, to oversee the rebuilding of more than 6,800 homes and businesses destroyed by a wildfire last month in Pacific Palisades.

Mayor Karen Bass announced she has picked the Evanston-based disaster recovery contractor to manage infrastructure restoration and environmental mitigation for parts of the nearly 37 square miles burned in the Palisades fire, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Bass said the city is also in discussions with global engineering firm AECOM about a separate contract, possibly to assist with cost recovery. A potential contract amount was not disclosed.

Hagerty will do “full project management, coordinating all of the different private and public entities,” the mayor said late last week. The firm will also oversee the rebuilding of public infrastructure.

Bass and her chief recovery officer, Steve Soboroff, had previously said that the firm outsourced to manage the city’s wildfire recovery would do damage assessments, monitor air and water quality, interact with federal agencies and make sure L.A. gets the maximum in federal funds.

It’s not clear how much Hagerty will be paid for its work.

The firm will report to Jim Featherstone, whom Bass appointed to oversee the city Emergency Operations Center’s recovery group, she said.

“We have selected Hagerty, a world-class disaster recovery firm, to provide expertise and operational support to facilitate our comprehensive recovery effort,” Bass told reporters during a news conference.

Hagerty Consulting, an emergency management consulting firm, helps cities and local governments prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes and other emergencies.

In the days since Bass toured the Palisades with Soboroff, her search for a recovery contractor has been mostly shrouded in secrecy. The mayor, along with four council members and other city officials, heard presentations from three firms in a closed-door meeting last month.

Hagerty, Dallas-based AECOM and IEM, based in North Carolina, gave brief Zoom presentations.

Hagerty, founded by former Evanston mayor Steve Hagerty in 2001, has deployed more than 1,000 planning, policy, logistics and other professionals to support response missions nationwide, according to its website.

Hagerty projects include Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Michael, and the Camp Fire, which in 2018 killed 85 people and burned 18,000 structures in Northern California.

Bass said that Hagerty has also been doing disaster work for Los Angeles County. And she left open the possibility that more private firms will be hired soon, according to the Times.

Because the mayor declared a state of emergency in response to the wildfire, she has the authority to award the contract unilaterally, without competitive bidding or a vote from the City Council, according to Councilmember Bob Blumenfield. Funding for the recovery contracts, however, will require a council vote.

— Dana Bartholomew