After the Palisades fire roared through Castellammare, water pipes in the street and homes burst, resulting in this landslide – and taking a home down the hill that had survived the fire.
Many Palisades residents tried to access the Palisades Fire meeting tonight, January 23, that was being held by the Pacific Palisades Community Council, but were turned away.
Whoever planned the meeting with Mayor Karen Bass, L.A County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, District Attorney Nathan Hochman, Councilmember Traci Park, State Senator Ben Allen, State Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin and U.S. Representative Brad Sherman, used a Zoom feature that only allowed 1,000 people to log in.
That meant if you were 1,001, you were out of luck. With 10,000 homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire, it seems logical that capacity for the meeting should be at least that large.
One resident denied access wrote, “Is this streaming? Zoom is at capacity.”
Another who was denied access wrote “Why is this not a zoom broadcast that can have unlimited participants? Makes me question our attention to detail here . . .”
Another wrote, “City Fail – they are 0 for 1.”
Prior to the meeting, residents were told to submit any questions they might have by noon today, which this editor did:
Question 1:
Reuters reported, “During Biden’s visit, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued temporary flight restrictions in Los Angeles airspace for VIP movement, according to a spokesperson.
“But during that time, the FAA spokesperson said in an email, ‘Pilots conducting firefighting operations could fly in the restricted airspace provided they coordinate beforehand with air traffic control,” as outlined in paragraph A of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM).”
Did Crowley or the Mayor’s office make the request and at what time?
Question 2:
The two mobile home parks, Tahitian Terrace and Palisades Bowl were destroyed in the Palisades Fire. They come under City, County and State jurisdiction – and the Mello Act, which was enacted in 1981 to preserve continued availability of low-income housing in the coastal zone.
Will you ensure that these properties are not sold to developers, who might want to place large hotels or mansions? Will you uphold the Mello Act, during rebuilding, so that affordable housing is maintained in Pacific Palisades?
Were the questions asked? I have no idea, This editor was not allowed access. Were any questions answered or was this just another opportunity for elected officials to express sympathy and congratulate each other for helping to build community during this trying time.
Let’s just hope that whoever set up the meeting will not be in charge of any kind of funding or rebuilding efforts.
This was really unfortunate planning and given everything people have been through, with a lack of city resources, such as empty reservoirs and no water to fight fires, they deserve better.
If the recording is ever made public . . .this story will be updated with the link.
The entire L.A. City parkland below Via de las Olas Bluffs burned. I hope that there was no homeless camping there–it was one of the favorite spots for them to put up a tent.
I was also denied. Thanks for your coverage.
Sue, great that you are continuing to do this for us, after suffering the loss yourself. Thank you. I look forward to reading CTN every day.
We are incensed that when we tried to access the meeting we were denied because it had reached “capacity.” Our response: What?!! Words fail.
Spot on, Sue! What a shock to be left out when we need info so badly. Week 3! T/u, Sue.
When denied entry to last night’s PPCC meeting, a message directed me to try again later after attendees may leave. So I switched to Netflix, then tried again at 8:15. I was given access to the remainder of the meeting that ended approx 9pm. Sue Kohl & Miriam Zar said there would be many future meetings addressing specific topics. Sue suggested everyone sign up for PPCC notifications using MailChimp on their website: https://pacpalicc.org/index.php/contact-us/
Thank you for your reporting Sue!
Here is the link to the recording: https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/play/yGb0EG1uSQNPY1QnFs25aqjVNq2HlrY_d1UcEMjYEYDHjB9zcEZ6YXkO4zmkzw9IWoUn21k3GwqPFs5e.tvBG7YWw9C8HSfDc
Watch the recording at https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/play/yGb0EG1uSQNPY1QnFs25aqjVNq2HlrY_d1UcEMjYEYDHjB9zcEZ6YXkO4zmkzw9IWoUn21k3GwqPFs5e.tvBG7YWw9C8HSfDc
I was unable to attend the Zoom meeting, and honestly, I’m happier that I didn’t.
Some city leaders are not qualified to be in positions of decision-making.
Lindsey Horvath stated at the meeting that our “gas pipes in highlands were broken”,
That was completely false and untrue. The gas company turned on gas in the highlands yesterday. The Gas Co. Had no idea what “broken” meant, they stated the pipes are fine and they turned the gas off as a precaution when fire broke out. The pipes did not “break”.
2- Horvath said highlands water “unsafe “. That was false too.
ThevWater guy got on zoom and stated TWICE that the water was negative for Benzine and the other 16 compounds , the pipes are metal NOT plastic.
We are being asked just not to drink the water in highlands as precaution.
Lindsey Horvath was wrong on both of those issues.
We live 100 ft approx from the Santa Monica Mountains area, which had heavy, dangerous brush. We are/ were very careful about brush clearance. Several months ago, we received notice that we had to apply for a permit, apply for an inspection, await inspection, await approval, etc etc before being allowed to clear obviously dangerous brush. Each stage required fees. My whole street is rubble. Insane. Inept. unconscionable .