Dear Pali Recovery Coalition,
Just a reminder that we will be meeting with State SENATOR BEN ALLEN on April 15th at 9am, at 169 west Channel Rd (Canyon Square, just outside the checkpoint location) for a discussion of the role of the State in our recovery. We will be talking about State bills, as well as insurance issues that are top of mind as we all contemplate rebuilding. I have also invited the Department of CA Insurance as well as LA County Tax Assessor, Jeff Prang, to our meeting. I’ll inform you all if they confirm. Mr. Prang sent the attached PDF to outline property relief for fire impacted homeowners.
I gave a presentation of our plan to the community through the PPCC. It went well and the Plan was very well received! See the video of the presentation here. Hagerty also presented a slide show (they did not take questions). It is interesting to see their presentation and the community’s reaction.
This week, I also met with City departments including Public Works, BOE, LA SAN and Bureau of Contract Administration. They have pledged their support for our work, and spur us to continue vetting the ideas we’ve included in our draft plan. They have expressed support for a street overlay proposal that would include one way or rush hour street flows as well as an RFI to get more information regarding a batch plant. Councilwoman Park has also pledged her support after having reviewed the plan with her team.
Since the presentation at PPCC last night, we have many people with specific expertise coming forward to join our coalition and help develop a systemic structure to rebuild an entire community, solving for some of the foreseeable perils ahead, and preventing people from getting discouraged. We also have new stakeholders at the table such as condo owners, small business operators, renters and more. I have already begun to have conversations about how we can address the unique needs of new subsets of people who join our coalition, and I am confident we can. The Red Cross has reached out with resources and, based on conversations just today, financial institutions vested in Pacific Palisades are beginning to realize they must also be part of the solution.
Finally, last week, a group of us were invited by RAND to attend the VerdeXchange conference. The RAND folks set up a specific charette for the Palisades where we were asked to envision Pacific Palisades 20 years from now when it has been rebuilt, and then look back on achievements and impediments. I have attached the graphic results, compiled by a real time AI system provided by RAND (non-scientific results). We hope to hold more charrettes in Pacific Palisades for people to consider what they may want their neighborhoods to look like as they rebuild for the 21st century.
I thank everyone who helped bring us to this point, and I know we have many more ideas and conversations to share at the table that has now been set for great ideas to percolate. Please see our new website, if you haven’t already, and please share your feedback on the working plan we have begun to present to the community, and to the city for assistance in bringing together experts and departments to help fill in the blanks. I commend this community for coming together as we have. We will rebuild Pacific Palisades and while we know there are tough days ahead, I know we can engage the necessary stakeholders to keep solving the issues we identify as we move forward, and make the road as smooth as we can for recovery.
Best,
Maryam Zar
