Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Traci Park thanked ACE members (left to right) Colonel Jeff Palazzini, Colonel Brian Sawser, General William Hannan, Jr. and Captain Sheldon Tausch. As they are being reassigned, Tausch and Sawser were given certificates of thanks from the City for their help.
“Today marks 100 days since the disaster,” said Mayor Karen Bass at an April 17 press conference at the site of the former Palisades Library, which burned in the January 7 Palisades Fire. “This has been a hundred days of resilience and one hundred days of inspiration.”
Today was special because Palisades Library building debris had been cleared by the Army Corp of Engineers, so that the next stage could begin. “It was supposed to take 30 days,” Bass said. “They did it in six.”
Senior Librarian Mary Huptf, Administrative Clerk Roberta Frank, Friends of the Library President Laura Schneider and City Librarian John Szabo joined Bass and Councilmember Traci Park in thanking the Army Corps of Engineers for the quick debris removal.
A week ago, the Mayor had stood at the entrance to the Palisades Recreation Center to announce a public-private partnership with L.A. Strong Sports, Steadfast LA and other Palisades groups to rebuild the gym, tennis courts and other areas that had burned in the fire.
Bass pointed out that this area, the Rec Center, the library were the center of the community and held people together. To lose those centers meant people also lost relationships.
“My top priority has been to get people home – that means rebuilding houses, but it also means rebuilding the places that make up the heart of the community,” she said.
Park, who had just returned from a fact-finding trip to Lahaina the night before said “I want to thank Colonel Brian Sawser, Captain Sheldon Tausch, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for their service – our community is truly grateful for their commitment.”
She thanked the Corps for their empathy and their professionalism. “There work here has been phenomenal. . . .and not only here but the hundreds of lots they have cleared.”
Park said she was in City Council Chambers when the fire started and praised her staff for rushing to the Palisades, hosing down roofs, helping evacuate the elderly and helping evacuate animals. “During my first sleepless weeks, my thoughts never left the people,” she said, and noted that the “recovery should be community led, with support from the government.”
After months in the Palisades, Sawser and Tausch have been reassigned and were given certificates from the City. “I operated in partnership with this endeavor in Palisades,” Sawser said. “Thank you for the individual recognition, but this is a team effort. There are hundreds of ACE employees that have rotated in and out. There are thousands of contractors, mostly from Southern California, who have worked seven days a week.
“What they have accomplished is a sign that renewal is coming,” Sawser said and added, that he looks forward to coming back and seeing the town once its rebuilt.
The City Librarian said, “It’s difficult to stand here today, but with the debris removed, there is a sense of hope.”
Szabo was asked what it would cost to construct a new library and said they are currently in talks with architects. “There is no estimate of costs, but that the cost of building will be 100 percent reimbursed by FEMA.”
How does one fill a new library with books? Szabo said that they put together “an opening day collection,” through purchases and added that “We have a wonderful Friends of the Library here we can work with.”
Librarian Huptf “What the Corps has done is phenomenal. This means a lot to me.”
So tired of Bass and her Catastrophe Tourism.