Aftermath of Fire – Far and Near

In the aftermath of the horrific fires, initial rebuilding efforts have been chaotic. The efforts of BHUSD to help have managed to displease everyone involved.

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Where rebuilding stands

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the desirability, at least in my eyes, for a comprehensive plan coupled with an acquisition of the ravaged property by the State through its eminent domain powers. I expressed concern that absent a coordinated approach and smart planning, the efforts to rebuild would lead to chaos and loss of a unique opportunity.

Now, a progress report. Here is the current status:

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, whose re-election prospects have been diminished, rightly or wrongly, by the fact that the destruction of the Palisades occurred on her watch, quite apart from the quality of her subsequent leadership, appointed developer (and former candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles) Steve Soboroff as Chief Recovery Officer to oversee rebuilding.

The City first announced that Mr. Soboroff would be paid $500K for 90 days work and the money would come from charitable sources, not the City of Los Angeles (a disingenuous claim as the salary payment fund, no matter its source, could go to rebuilding if not to Soboroff). After an uproar, Soboroff and his assistant agreed to work free and Mayor Bass said that his work would be confined to rebuilding a shopping district and other public buildings. Soboroff publicly disagreed with that limitation.

Almost immediately, Soboroff and the Mayor disagreed on the wisdom of re-opening the Palisades. Then, Mayor Bass appointed Hagerty Consulting of Illinois to provide project management for the recovery, reporting not to Soboroff but to Jim Featherstone of the City’s Emergency Management Department. But Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Palisades and is head of the Los Angeles City’s committee on wildfire recovery, claims that she is the City’s person in charge.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors are actively involved. Governor Newsom has formed a group of business leaders to engage in recovery efforts. To cap off the public sector, President Trump’s head of Special Missions, Ric Grenell, has a role, so far limited to criticizing the announcement of Soboroff’s pay. And the US Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA are involved.

From the private sector, Rick Caruso, who lost to Bass in the race for LA Mayor, has announced a formation of a group of business leaders to focus on rebuilding. Miguel Santana, Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel, and LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong have also announced formation of separate groups to focus on rebuilding.

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Too many chiefs, not enough clarity

Certainly, there is nothing inherently wrong about the fact that so many persons and entities are interested in helping. But there appears no one in charge but lots of different players arm-wrestling for a role. It is no wonder that little has been done after more than a month other than squabbles over where to put the debris caused by the fire. If that’s not chaos, I don’t know what is.

Postscript: On Saturday, February 15, after this column was written but before it was published, the LA Times published Steve Lopez’s article about the rebuilding effort. Mr. Lopez, who I greatly admire, referred to the efforts to date and asked: “Can anyone here play this game?” My observation is that there are far too many chiefs, many of whom are highly competent, likely working at cross-purposes and no one in charge. The “game” cannot be properly played with five quarterbacks or five shortstops on the field at the same time — and without a head coach or manager.

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Closer to home: BHUSD and Pali High

One of the many tragic aspects of the Palisades Fire has been the damage and resulting closure of Palisades Charter High School (Pali). Although classes are being held online, an understandable objective of many students and their parents is to find another school where they can have in-person instruction.

BHHS offers an attractive alternative due to its reputation and approximately 150 Pali students have applied for admission. This has led to a most unfortunate several-sided disconnect between the BHUSD Board of Education, BHUSD Administration, Beverly Hills residents, and Pali students and parents.

On January 14, Governor Newsom issued an executive order that provides, in part, as follows:

“WHEREAS local educational agencies [LEAs] are obligated to immediately enroll students who are now unhoused as a result of the fires throughout the Greater Los Angeles Area pursuant to Education Code section 48850 [relates, among other things, to ‘homeless’ children]

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:

6. All LEAs are urged to extend every effort to support and facilitate the enrollment of students displaced by the fires, including, but not limited to, facilitating completion and approval of interdistrict transfer requests.”

Notably, some have argued that some legal obligation was imposed on the District to enroll Pali students. But the “whereas” recital refers to an Education Code Section applicable only to foster and homeless children (not children who may have had to find new housing because of the fires) and paragraph 6 uses the term “urged”, not “ordered.” If the Governor had intended to order enrollment, he could have said that.

It is clear to me that while fulfilling the wishes of some Pali students to attend BHHS may be a good thing to do, if practical, there is no legal obligation under the Order or otherwise.

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The capacity dilemma

Shortly after that, the Board discussed the Order, reached the conclusion that the District’s moral/legal obligation, if any, was to accommodate, if possible, students who had been rendered “unhoused” and asked the administration to let the Board know the total capacity for additional students without adding more teachers. The Board also noted that it was predictable that some families whose homes were destroyed or damaged would seek to live in Beverly Hills and that it was important to reserve some of the capacity for new residents who would have the legal right to attend BHUSD schools.

Subsequently, the Board learned that a number of Pali students had been admitted to BHHS and that further enrollment applications were being processed. The Board instructed the administration to pause processing of these applications, leaving more than 100 applications for admission in limbo.

At a Board meeting on February 3, the Board was informed that the Administration had admitted approximately 47 students, who were regarded as “displaced,” but not “homeless.” At the same time, the Board was told that BHUSD had no capacity for Pali students in addition to the 47 without incurring the substantial expense of adding new teachers.

At the same time, some Beverly Hills residents felt that compassionate concerns should allow for the enrollment of a larger number of Pali students, given that the current BHHS enrollment is only around 1,100 students in a school that recently had an enrollment of nearly twice that. Others argued that as a Basic Aid district, BHUSD would receive no additional funding to compensate for the cost of the additional students and the hiring of more teachers and that this generosity would take resources away from students who reside in the City.

No one is happy with the current state of play. But we can fairly observe: “No good deed goes unpunished.”