Latest / I Choose Me with Jennie Garth / iHeartPodcasts presents a Town Hall with California Governor Gavin Newsom
Transcript
- 0:08Speaker 1: iHeart Podcast presents a town hall with California Governor Gavin Newsom. Up, first,
- 0:18Speaker 1: we have Vincent, Beverly and Vincent in Pasadena. Vincent and
- 0:23Speaker 1: Beverly are married. Vincent is their son. They lost their
- 0:27Speaker 1: family home of forty one years in the Eton fire. Governor,
- 0:31Speaker 1: this is Vincent, Beverly and Vincent.
- 0:33Speaker 2: Hey, guys, hello, forty one years huh.
- 0:38Speaker 3: One years and same spot. Kids grew up there. We
- 0:43Speaker 3: modeled the house, fixed it up. We fixed it up,
- 0:45Speaker 3: made a home out of it. We didn't have to
- 0:47Speaker 3: move and centrally located, so everything was there, all my
- 0:50Speaker 3: family history, everything.
- 0:53Speaker 2: And and and a community that's unlike any other in
- 0:57Speaker 2: the region. Huh. I mean, remarkable diversity, generational wealth being created,
- 1:02Speaker 2: opportunities beautiful tell us. I mean when you know, for
- 1:08Speaker 2: those that don't fully appreciate Alta Dina and maybe more
- 1:12Speaker 2: familiar with some of these coastal communities, maybe can help
- 1:16Speaker 2: if you would, I'd appreciate it, and I think people
- 1:19Speaker 2: listening would appreciate. Just describe the community and the people,
- 1:23Speaker 2: the vibrancy.
- 1:24Speaker 3: The attraction is that it's a wooded area and the
- 1:30Speaker 3: forest is right there, lots of wildlife, parks. The community
- 1:35Speaker 3: made up of people who have been in Altadena for generations.
- 1:41Speaker 4: Tight community.
- 1:42Speaker 3: Everybody knows everybody on the block. Everybody comes to each
- 1:45Speaker 3: other's rescue. My neighbors helped me build fences, and I
- 1:49Speaker 3: helped them paint their homes and do that kind of thing.
- 1:55Speaker 3: And we've seen the senior citizens leave and their children
- 1:59Speaker 3: come in, be seen young people come in. And Alta
- 2:01Speaker 3: Dina was had the reputation of being kind of like
- 2:05Speaker 3: a little secret. People didn't know how nice it was
- 2:10Speaker 3: up in Altadena. And young folks are starting to come
- 2:14Speaker 3: in and buy some of the homes when the older
- 2:16Speaker 3: people leave or go into nursing homes or leave to
- 2:19Speaker 3: go with their families when they can't support themselves anymore
- 2:22Speaker 3: by themselves. But it was always a welcoming community and
- 2:26Speaker 3: always a surprise to.
- 2:27Speaker 4: People when they came up.
- 2:28Speaker 3: Parks were nice, just almost a perfect kind of situation.
- 2:34Speaker 5: It was crime free. What with your door, Go walk
- 2:38Speaker 5: your dog out, locking your door, come back, everything would
- 2:43Speaker 5: be in place. Speak to everybody along the way and
- 2:47Speaker 5: it was our perfect day. You know, we love We
- 2:51Speaker 5: weren't going anywhere.
- 2:53Speaker 2: Wow, did you guys, did you have insurance on the property.
- 2:58Speaker 5: Yes, yes, we haven't assurance. That is not an issue.
- 3:02Speaker 5: Our issue now is finding somewhere to live. People are
- 3:07Speaker 5: gouging us. They want to give us properties that they
- 3:10Speaker 5: would normally rent from anywhere from three to five thousand
- 3:13Speaker 5: dollars a month. They want to charge us eight thousand
- 3:15Speaker 5: dollars and it's unfurnished. It's at the top of most
- 3:19Speaker 5: people's budget. So you got a home, and then you
- 3:22Speaker 5: got to still come out of pocket to get a
- 3:24Speaker 5: washing machine and dryer, a bed. All that that's part
- 3:29Speaker 5: is disturbing me more than anything. Right now that I
- 3:33Speaker 5: am out of a home of forty one years. None
- 3:37Speaker 5: of my personal belongings, you know, antiques that have been
- 3:41Speaker 5: passed down, some of them, and some antiques that we
- 3:44Speaker 5: purchased after all these years, they're gone. We don't have
- 3:49Speaker 5: basic things, and people don't seem to cure to allow
- 3:54Speaker 5: us to try to make homes for the next two
- 3:57Speaker 5: years while we're waiting to rebuild.
- 4:01Speaker 2: It is grief and and mine on your behalf. It
- 4:06Speaker 2: is unconscionable to see this kind of price gouging and
- 4:11Speaker 2: to see the greed of people taking advantage of you
- 4:15Speaker 2: and others similarly in your position. We immediately after this
- 4:22Speaker 2: this disaster, we did. I signed an executive order on
- 4:26Speaker 2: price gouging. It's now about enforcing it. And so I
- 4:31Speaker 2: cannot impress upon you. Let me. I want to know
- 4:34Speaker 2: who to forgive my language, Who the hell these people
- 4:37Speaker 2: are that are doubling rents. I want their names, their address.
- 4:41Speaker 2: I'm coming after them. The Attorney General needs to come
- 4:44Speaker 2: after them. It is against the law to do that.
- 4:46Speaker 2: If they were advertising a rent before this tragedy, they
- 4:50Speaker 2: cannot charge these absorbent and prices. They cannot, and so
- 4:55Speaker 2: we need to we need to hold them accountable. And
- 4:57Speaker 2: these laws mean nothing unless we enforce and so I'm
- 5:01Speaker 2: sorry that you're facing that, and I know others as well,
- 5:05Speaker 2: and we've got we've got to hold these people accountable.
- 5:09Speaker 5: Also, they're trying to force us into a twenty four
- 5:12Speaker 5: month leaf instead of a one year.
- 5:14Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, thank you for that example. Let me
- 5:19Speaker 2: look into that as well. Were doing tenant protections. There's
- 5:22Speaker 2: a lot of people that are moving into rentals with
- 5:25Speaker 2: family members, but then they're in a rental and the
- 5:29Speaker 2: rental says, well, you can only have two people, and
- 5:31Speaker 2: now there's five, and so potentially people are going to
- 5:34Speaker 2: get evicted. So I just did an executive order yesterday
- 5:39Speaker 2: on that, prohibiting that so people have the ability, if
- 5:43Speaker 2: they've been impacted by the fires, to be with others
- 5:47Speaker 2: in that rental environment. The price gouging. I extended the
- 5:50Speaker 2: price gouging beyond the emergency declaration, and the Attorney General
- 5:58Speaker 2: just did a big announcement potentially needing some warrant power
- 6:03Speaker 2: to have more force to go after these people taking advantage.
- 6:07Speaker 2: So thank you for that one versus two year example.
- 6:11Speaker 2: Can I ask you this, have you been offered any
- 6:15Speaker 2: unsolicited offers to buy your home?
- 6:18Speaker 4: Absolutely?
- 6:19Speaker 3: My bone two or three days after this potastrophe, the
- 6:23Speaker 3: Bone was bringing off the whole people just calling, are
- 6:27Speaker 3: you interested? Get tech still buy your property?
- 6:31Speaker 4: You know as that Cody.
- 6:33Speaker 2: I was at the first Ame Lena Kennedy and others
- 6:37Speaker 2: community leaders in your backyard five days ago, and this
- 6:43Speaker 2: came up with with faith leaders and community leaders, and
- 6:47Speaker 2: we immediately did an executive order that now is illegal
- 6:51Speaker 2: as well. They cannot unsolicit you with low ball offers.
- 6:57Speaker 2: My biggest fear right now in Altadena is the community
- 7:01Speaker 2: is not able to come back because in a time
- 7:04Speaker 2: of trial and stress, people may feel hopeless and may
- 7:09Speaker 2: give in to the temptation to sell their properties at
- 7:12Speaker 2: below market value. We cannot let that happen. And so
- 7:16Speaker 2: these predatory practices, these people that are calling you, texting,
- 7:20Speaker 2: that's something else. Please please let us know. I want
- 7:24Speaker 2: to go. I mean, this is another area where we
- 7:27Speaker 2: have to go after these people speculators taking advantage of
- 7:31Speaker 2: this tragedy.
- 7:32Speaker 4: Well, here's one example.
- 7:35Speaker 3: Or these scammers are coming in and touching base with
- 7:37Speaker 3: people and ask them. But they want to rebuilt. And
- 7:40Speaker 3: if you give us a depositive, will purchase your supplies
- 7:43Speaker 3: because supplies it.
- 7:44Speaker 4: Will be in demand.
- 7:46Speaker 3: And once you decide to build, if you don't have
- 7:49Speaker 3: those plies set aside, build the materials and stuff that
- 7:52Speaker 3: it's going to be along the way. So give us
- 7:54Speaker 3: some money now, will pursase them for you now, and
- 7:56Speaker 3: then then you never hear from those guys.
- 7:58Speaker 4: Again.
- 8:00Speaker 2: Thank you for highlighting that for people listening, uh to
- 8:03Speaker 2: not fall prey to that and these scanners and fraudsters. Well,
- 8:08Speaker 2: what so, we've we've got a lot of work to
- 8:10Speaker 2: do together to have your back and your your neighbors
- 8:14Speaker 2: and the community, and to get you back and uh
- 8:17Speaker 2: and and to keep you uh in the mind frame
- 8:20Speaker 2: you are right now that I mean you you don't
- 8:22Speaker 2: want to move, You want to rebuild.
- 8:24Speaker 4: Right, this is this is our forever home. So yeah,
- 8:27Speaker 4: we want to.
- 8:29Speaker 3: But here are some things when talking to people that
- 8:32Speaker 3: are concerned about the infrastructure for Altadena markets the library
- 8:38Speaker 3: burnt down, banks burnt down, the post office burnt down,
- 8:43Speaker 3: you know, senior citizens centers and all that burned down.
- 8:47Speaker 3: Is that going to come back? Is that recovery going
- 8:50Speaker 3: to be accelerated? For Altadena? The building permits nightmare going
- 8:55Speaker 3: to be modified so that we can get to start
- 8:58Speaker 3: building sooner.
- 9:00Speaker 2: So let me specifically answer that. And being up being
- 9:04Speaker 2: in your backyard nine in the last twelve days and
- 9:08Speaker 2: going up and down the commercial Court or seeing that
- 9:11Speaker 2: destruction firsthand, I'm mindful of everything you just said. Let
- 9:15Speaker 2: me be specific though, as it relates to permits, we
- 9:19Speaker 2: are waving sequel, We wave the Coastal Act. We have
- 9:23Speaker 2: a forcing function in the executive order. I have done
- 9:25Speaker 2: eleven executive orders since the fires to require local government
- 9:31Speaker 2: to create the conditions where local government is responsible for
- 9:35Speaker 2: getting permits within thirty days and making sure that we
- 9:39Speaker 2: break through all of the bureaucratic red tape. So the
- 9:42Speaker 2: state has already done that, and we are driving locals
- 9:47Speaker 2: to do that as well. Number Two, the Biden administration,
- 9:51Speaker 2: President Biden and I say President Biden, Joe Biden. President
- 9:56Speaker 2: Joe Biden himself approved a major dis master declaration within
- 10:01Speaker 2: thirty six hours. It's unprecedented in the history of disasters
- 10:05Speaker 2: in this country. What does that mean. It allows for
- 10:09Speaker 2: individual assistance, which is critical, but it also, through this
- 10:13Speaker 2: technical thing called ceeded G grants, allows for all of
- 10:16Speaker 2: the parks, playgrounds, community centers, and everything you just described
- 10:22Speaker 2: to get rebuilt with federal support and federal money. We're
- 10:26Speaker 2: getting reimbursed at seventy five percent for that one hundred
- 10:29Speaker 2: percent for other things. So there's going to be a
- 10:31Speaker 2: little bit of a local match forgive the technical point there,
- 10:34Speaker 2: but we've already we just got that, and we got
- 10:38Speaker 2: it just in time before tomorrow Monday, and we're making
- 10:44Speaker 2: sure that those dollars not only are secure, but they're
- 10:46Speaker 2: being activated. And then we've got the Small Business Administration
- 10:50Speaker 2: that's out there trying to provide that extra support. And
- 10:54Speaker 2: then there's gaps. We've got all these community foundations. And
- 10:58Speaker 2: then there's a huge effort La Rises effort, which is
- 11:02Speaker 2: going to be this the community led effort, which is
- 11:07Speaker 2: going to lead a vibrant, energetic rebuilding process that is
- 11:14Speaker 2: community led, not top down. It's not going to be
- 11:18Speaker 2: the state dictating. It's going to be you telling us
- 11:21Speaker 2: what you need. And we're going to remove every damn
- 11:23Speaker 2: barrier that we humanly possibly can between the city, state, region,
- 11:28Speaker 2: and federal partners.
- 11:30Speaker 3: So well, there need to be community leaders established in
- 11:33Speaker 3: order to tap into this effort.
- 11:35Speaker 2: Yeah, we're in fact where the reason I was with
- 11:37Speaker 2: Lena and others and with the church leaders, we're really
- 11:40Speaker 2: starting to already connect to the UH, to the community
- 11:46Speaker 2: UH and in a very granular way. And in today
- 11:50Speaker 2: Sunday we're announcing UH this our co chairs and I
- 11:56Speaker 2: because at any hour it's going to go out. I
- 11:59Speaker 2: want to be careful. I think you're going to appreciate
- 12:02Speaker 2: the folks that are going to be leading this effort
- 12:05Speaker 2: for the state because they're deeply committed to your community.
- 12:09Speaker 2: And Altadena is on my mind with this larger rebuilt
- 12:13Speaker 2: I assure you Alta Dina is deeply on my mind.
- 12:17Speaker 3: So there's concerned that you know, they may try to
- 12:22Speaker 3: turn the Altadena into an apartment area and the no
- 12:28Speaker 3: homeschool away, but they'll be building back with apartment buildings.
- 12:31Speaker 3: Except like our park. We've had the developers try to
- 12:35Speaker 3: get our park park before, and you know, you know
- 12:41Speaker 3: the part of the park burned, just the building there.
- 12:45Speaker 3: But you know, hopefully there's no changing of our zona.
- 12:48Speaker 3: We try to keep it a residential home area, single
- 12:52Speaker 3: home area.
- 12:53Speaker 2: We've got to do everything in our power. You have
- 12:55Speaker 2: my firm commitment. Then when I say community led, you
- 12:58Speaker 2: decide in that respect. I do not want to see
- 13:01Speaker 2: speculators come in. I don't want to see displacement. We
- 13:04Speaker 2: don't want to see reckless up zoning that destroys the
- 13:08Speaker 2: character and the unique vibrancy of your community. And we
- 13:11Speaker 2: all want to see parks and open space devoured in
- 13:14Speaker 2: that respect. So absolutely, that's the commitment.
- 13:18Speaker 5: Do you have any idea when they might be able
- 13:21Speaker 5: to start, you know, excavating some of that clean up, Steff.
- 13:28Speaker 4: We haven't even been able to get back to our
- 13:30Speaker 4: home site.
- 13:30Speaker 2: Yet, so I'm sorry about that. So here's here's where
- 13:34Speaker 2: we are, and here's the latest over ninety percent over
- 13:38Speaker 2: ninety percent of all the homes that have been impacted
- 13:43Speaker 2: by the Eating Fire in your backyard have gone through
- 13:46Speaker 2: this what they call din's process, which is damaged assessment process.
- 13:51Speaker 2: We have already set up three debris removal sites around
- 13:57Speaker 2: the Eating Fire. The us EPA is going in boots
- 14:02Speaker 2: on the ground doing the actual physical removal of hazardous
- 14:07Speaker 2: materials tomorrow Monday, and that includes batteries and propane tanks, ammunition,
- 14:14Speaker 2: whatever may be there. They're not touching personal property, they're
- 14:18Speaker 2: just doing all of that. That will all be complete
- 14:21Speaker 2: within sixty days. But as each property, the first day
- 14:26Speaker 2: there's properties done, they'll put up on the website. You
- 14:29Speaker 2: can go to CA dot gov slash LA fires, ca
- 14:34Speaker 2: dot gov slash la fires. The minute they finish a
- 14:39Speaker 2: property for the hazmat it makes it eligible now for
- 14:44Speaker 2: to breed removal for the rest of it, which you
- 14:47Speaker 2: can do yourself as a homeowner. If you have insurance.
- 14:51Speaker 2: Insurance covers it and you want to do it yourself
- 14:53Speaker 2: and hire someone, you have the right to do that,
- 14:56Speaker 2: or you can sign a right to entry where the
- 15:00Speaker 2: Army Corps of Engineers we just announced the Army Corps
- 15:03Speaker 2: will be doing the master debris removal. They can come
- 15:06Speaker 2: in and do it. If your insurance doesn't cover all
- 15:09Speaker 2: of the debris removal that will be done by FEMA,
- 15:13Speaker 2: they'll pick up the difference and the costs. And we
- 15:16Speaker 2: want to get the properties prepared, not the foundations. We'll
- 15:20Speaker 2: keep the foundations and then we'll get those properties prepared
- 15:24Speaker 2: for what you want to do with them as it
- 15:27Speaker 2: relates to the rebuild, etc. Again waiving all the Seker
- 15:30Speaker 2: rules and all the process etc. So that can happen
- 15:33Speaker 2: in real time as well. So that's where we are.
- 15:36Speaker 2: Within sixty days, all of the hasmats done and debris
- 15:41Speaker 2: removal will begin in real time as Phase two is
- 15:45Speaker 2: entered into and we hope to get the debris done,
- 15:48Speaker 2: all of it for both the Eating Fire and Palisades.
- 15:52Speaker 2: I want to say in nine months, but with grace
- 15:55Speaker 2: and humility, based on the scale and scope, probably nine
- 15:59Speaker 2: to twelve month months for all the debris removed.
- 16:02Speaker 3: Oh okay, so you think rebuilding actually won't take place for.
- 16:07Speaker 4: About a year.
- 16:07Speaker 2: Uh yeah, I want to get it done. We're going
- 16:09Speaker 2: to do back to heaven and Earth. Heaven and Earth
- 16:13Speaker 2: to do everything in our power to to to bring
- 16:17Speaker 2: that uh into the months, uh, but not a year,
- 16:21Speaker 2: so that we can we can start and look, as
- 16:23Speaker 2: I said, if you're first in on the hasmat, for example,
- 16:26Speaker 2: if your property on Tuesday is ready and the has
- 16:29Speaker 2: mats cleared, which will happen, they'll be properties next Tuesday,
- 16:32Speaker 2: We'll have hazmat Thursday, Friday, Saturday, more properties and that's
- 16:36Speaker 2: now you're working on the secondary debris removal. Your property
- 16:40Speaker 2: on the front line can can start much sooner. I'm
- 16:44Speaker 2: talking about all the properties on the back. But if
- 16:46Speaker 2: you're the last in line, uh, it may be that
- 16:50Speaker 2: that full year, but we're going to do everything to
- 16:52Speaker 2: try to make that quicker.
- 16:54Speaker 4: Okay, that's that's that's it.
- 16:58Speaker 2: I could spend the next three years with you, guys.
- 17:00Speaker 2: I appreciate you.
- 17:02Speaker 5: Oh, i appreciate you to your great governance.
- 17:04Speaker 2: And I'm sorry for all you're going through.
- 17:06Speaker 4: Yeah, we love you, Love you guys.
- 17:10Speaker 1: Up next, we have Natalie from Pacific Palisades. Natalie lost
- 17:14Speaker 1: both her home and her business. Natalie, meet Governor Newsom.
- 17:18Speaker 2: Are you there? Natalie?
- 17:20Speaker 6: Hi, Governor Newsom, how are you doing today?
- 17:22Speaker 2: Question is how are you doing?
- 17:24Speaker 6: Not the greatest, just being totally honest.
- 17:29Speaker 2: She lost your home, and your business.
- 17:31Speaker 6: I lost both. Yes, it's been very devastating.
- 17:36Speaker 2: And what has it been navigating some of the support
- 17:40Speaker 2: that's out there? Have you been to the disaster recovery
- 17:42Speaker 2: center of you?
- 17:43Speaker 7: I have, and there's been some that have been absolutely amazing,
- 17:48Speaker 7: and I'm so grateful for them. The reason I even
- 17:50Speaker 7: have makeup right now is because there was a place
- 17:54Speaker 7: on Montana and Santa Monica that was just fantastic and
- 17:59Speaker 7: free people warning these outfits, So that was really kind. Unfortunately,
- 18:05Speaker 7: some of the other disaster relief has been not the greatest,
- 18:09Speaker 7: But for the people that are helping and the companies
- 18:12Speaker 7: that are helping, I will never forget who they are.
- 18:14Speaker 2: I love that. What is is if FEMA assistants SBA
- 18:19Speaker 2: assistance for you, has it been navigating that?
- 18:23Speaker 7: I'll be quite Franks, not pretty easy. They're kind of
- 18:27Speaker 7: making this as hard as possible for me. I'm not
- 18:33Speaker 7: loving it at the moment because they're making me just
- 18:38Speaker 7: jump through like hoops of fire for being honest. Essentially,
- 18:42Speaker 7: like I did have some Renter's insurance on my home right,
- 18:46Speaker 7: very small amount that doesn't even cover some of like
- 18:49Speaker 7: literally it's like nothing, basically, and because I was honest
- 18:52Speaker 7: with them about that. I'm now getting pushed back on
- 18:55Speaker 7: the wait list. So far they're denying my claim. I
- 18:58Speaker 7: have to resubmit it and I have to give them
- 18:59Speaker 7: all all kinds of information now, and that's just unfortunate because,
- 19:05Speaker 7: like I was honest.
- 19:07Speaker 2: And that's specific to the FEMA process. Yeah, and SBA,
- 19:12Speaker 2: have you engaged those guys.
- 19:14Speaker 6: It's been SBA was very difficult.
- 19:17Speaker 7: There was a lot of issues with the website, like
- 19:19Speaker 7: my email wouldn't verify for five days and then I
- 19:23Speaker 7: realized it was just another anyway, it was very difficult
- 19:26Speaker 7: technolog like the links weren't working, and yeah, so I
- 19:32Speaker 7: would hope going forward that they could get it together
- 19:37Speaker 7: a little more as far as like their tech side and.
- 19:41Speaker 6: Not doing what they're doing to me.
- 19:44Speaker 2: Basically, I appreciate, and we'll we'll follow up specifically and
- 19:49Speaker 2: see what we can do to help navigate that with
- 19:51Speaker 2: you directly, and and we you know, we've been blowing
- 19:54Speaker 2: them up. And the whole idea is to make this
- 19:57Speaker 2: virtual as seamless as possible, but also supplement that in
- 20:01Speaker 2: person and try to bring everybody under one roof at
- 20:04Speaker 2: these disaster recovery centers, all the federal agencies, state agencies,
- 20:09Speaker 2: local and then nonprofits as well to fill those gaps.
- 20:13Speaker 7: I appreciate that because unfortunately, and I can't get too
- 20:16Speaker 7: into this because I will be entering legal stuff. My
- 20:20Speaker 7: insurance is not active on my business right now. So
- 20:26Speaker 7: getting these loans and getting these things in order is
- 20:29Speaker 7: a huge deal for me.
- 20:31Speaker 6: Have nothing.
- 20:32Speaker 7: I've lost over six hundred thousand with my business.
- 20:35Speaker 6: Wow, which a lifetime to achieve.
- 20:37Speaker 7: So you know what am I supposed to do with
- 20:41Speaker 7: no equipment and nothing.
- 20:43Speaker 2: Well, we've got to do a weekend to get you
- 20:47Speaker 2: back on your feed. And the fact you're even engaging
- 20:49Speaker 2: in this conversation is remarkable. So it shows your unbelievable resilience.
- 20:55Speaker 2: And I'm sorry as well. We're very mindful of what's
- 20:57Speaker 2: going on with price gouging. It was one of the
- 21:01Speaker 2: first acts we took now twelve days ago with the
- 21:05Speaker 2: emergency proclamation. UH and it's question now of forcing it.
- 21:10Speaker 2: Renting motels, hotels, they cannot they cannot exceed ten percent
- 21:18Speaker 2: above what they were previously advertising before the fires, as
- 21:22Speaker 2: it relates to those rates, And so I.
- 21:24Speaker 7: Think we're asking now like of like proof of things
- 21:27Speaker 7: like it's kind of wild. I'm you know, like I'm
- 21:31Speaker 7: out of a job right now, but like I'm gonna
- 21:33Speaker 7: hopefully get that back soon. And they're what they're asking
- 21:36Speaker 7: me to like move in with I'm just and I
- 21:38Speaker 7: understand as a landlord, like you want to make sure
- 21:41Speaker 7: you have security on things. But it's when I started
- 21:45Speaker 7: renting like five months ago. What they're asking now is
- 21:49Speaker 7: completely insane.
- 21:50Speaker 2: Yeah, now that's it's it's that's going to be. I mean,
- 21:54Speaker 2: we're going to navigate that challenge and and and be
- 21:57Speaker 2: much more muscular in terms of holding these folks accountable.
- 22:00Speaker 2: The Attorney General reinforced that I had I extended the
- 22:04Speaker 2: price gouging as well, so we've got a longer runway,
- 22:08Speaker 2: and it's goods and services, it's obviously rentals and and
- 22:13Speaker 2: it's now just driving accountability, also driving accountability to your
- 22:17Speaker 2: point on FEMA and small business, as you know, FEMA
- 22:20Speaker 2: has that that that modest just getting you started debit
- 22:23Speaker 2: card which you know barely pays for gas.
- 22:28Speaker 7: So much for taking the time with me today, and
- 22:31Speaker 7: I just appreciate it.
- 22:32Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Thanks so much, and I'm so sorry
- 22:34Speaker 2: everything you're going through, Natalie.
- 22:36Speaker 1: This is an iHeartRadio California town Hall with Governor Newsom. Next,
- 22:40Speaker 1: we have Jim in Altadena, his home of twenty four
- 22:45Speaker 1: years burned down. Jim, you're on with our governor.
- 22:49Speaker 4: Good morning, Governor.
- 22:50Speaker 2: How are you, Jim? How are you? How are you doing?
- 22:52Speaker 2: How are you?
- 22:53Speaker 4: I'm I'm encouraged.
- 22:55Speaker 8: Everywhere I go I see so many smiling faces. You
- 22:58Speaker 8: have no idea how people you're talking too?
- 23:00Speaker 4: Lost a house.
- 23:01Speaker 8: Everybody is giving. Everybody is giving. And went out to
- 23:03Speaker 8: sand I needed to get some toys from my cats.
- 23:06Speaker 8: And there were two lines. There was a line that
- 23:08Speaker 8: was like three quarters a mile long and there was
- 23:09Speaker 8: a real short line. I'm like, what's the difference between
- 23:11Speaker 8: the lines? I said, oh, this line on the left,
- 23:13Speaker 8: the three quarters of a mile. That's people making donations and
- 23:15Speaker 8: bringing water and bringing dips and bringing food and bringing clothes.
- 23:18Speaker 8: And they waited an hour maybe more to get in.
- 23:21Speaker 8: And then when I got there, the number of volunteers
- 23:24Speaker 8: was just overwhelming. People had a little tape on that
- 23:27Speaker 8: said volunteer on it and there were maybe one to
- 23:31Speaker 8: two to one, you know, people to volunteers. There were
- 23:34Speaker 8: just so many people that are folding clothes and laying
- 23:36Speaker 8: things out and writing numbers on. So maybe I'm still
- 23:40Speaker 8: in shock. I had a front house with an inlaw house,
- 23:43Speaker 8: and I rented out another rental property around the corner,
- 23:45Speaker 8: so I lost three houses total.
- 23:46Speaker 2: Wow, Jim, how long have you lived in the in
- 23:49Speaker 2: the area?
- 23:50Speaker 8: March would be twenty four years? WHOA, I moved down
- 23:53Speaker 8: from northern California. I lived in born in Palo Alto,
- 23:56Speaker 8: grew up in Los Altos in Sunny Vale, and then
- 23:58Speaker 8: moved down here to get into the film industry way back.
- 24:00Speaker 2: Can you can? I ask you to do a favor.
- 24:03Speaker 2: It's so, I spent a lot of time in Altadena.
- 24:06Speaker 2: In the last thing, you know, nine out of the
- 24:08Speaker 2: last twelve days built out in the community. Describe the community.
- 24:13Speaker 2: It is a special place. It's so unique, it's so
- 24:18Speaker 2: really it's a it's a It's one of the most
- 24:20Speaker 2: vibrant and diverse communities in our country.
- 24:23Speaker 4: Oh, it really is, it really is.
- 24:25Speaker 8: I've got Latino neighbors on both sides of me, Asian
- 24:29Speaker 8: family two houses up, Filipino family, African American families, white families,
- 24:35Speaker 8: you know, all living together, and they're just the best
- 24:37Speaker 8: neighbors ever. And it's it's a it's a very artistic community.
- 24:40Speaker 8: There's a lot of artists that were drawn to it.
- 24:43Speaker 8: The reason I moved there is I like vintage things.
- 24:46Speaker 8: I lost a jukebox in the fire. I lost you
- 24:48Speaker 8: know a lot of collectible stuff. And my house was
- 24:50Speaker 8: built in forty seven. It's a nineteen forty.
- 24:52Speaker 4: Seven branch style. Yeah.
- 24:53Speaker 8: And the houses across the street it was there was
- 24:56Speaker 8: an art tech Thomas Jane, who you know, built all
- 24:59Speaker 8: these houses and they were known as James Village and
- 25:01Speaker 8: we've been trying for years to get a historical designation
- 25:04Speaker 8: to it. It never happened. But they were you know, the
- 25:06Speaker 8: ones through the storybook roofs and the keyhole entrances and
- 25:09Speaker 8: it's just adorable. So there's there's a lot of like,
- 25:12Speaker 8: there's visual aesthetic up there.
- 25:14Speaker 4: You know, you're up there.
- 25:14Speaker 8: You've got the Deodora trees, you got Christmas Tree Lane,
- 25:17Speaker 8: You've got you know, such a visual aesthetic.
- 25:19Speaker 4: You know.
- 25:20Speaker 8: I like to tell people, hey, we're up above the
- 25:21Speaker 8: bad air, and any bad air that we do get
- 25:24Speaker 8: blows east into Duarte.
- 25:25Speaker 2: Yeah. Wow.
- 25:26Speaker 8: But just everybody there, it's just it's a lot of pride,
- 25:29Speaker 8: a lot of sense of community in Altadena, and a
- 25:32Speaker 8: lot of families that I know that have been living
- 25:34Speaker 8: there since the seventies, or people I know that moved away.
- 25:37Speaker 8: They grew up there, they moved away. The neighbor across
- 25:40Speaker 8: the street from me, she was raised in the house.
- 25:45Speaker 8: She bought it, She and her husband bought it from
- 25:47Speaker 8: their parents, raised their kids there, you know, then even
- 25:50Speaker 8: had their grandkids there for a little bit. You know,
- 25:52Speaker 8: their their house is gone. And my heart just breaks
- 25:54Speaker 8: for especially for them.
- 25:56Speaker 4: You know.
- 25:56Speaker 8: I know I have my own trials, but somebody like that,
- 26:00Speaker 8: that's your whole life. I mean, it's it's you know,
- 26:02Speaker 8: it's a special kind of people up there.
- 26:04Speaker 2: No and and uh i'm I'm it's indelible. And having
- 26:08Speaker 2: met so many members of the community, and and it
- 26:11Speaker 2: requires a unique approach in the recovery and the assistance. Uh,
- 26:16Speaker 2: we've got it, and we're deeply mindful. We've got to
- 26:19Speaker 2: customize uh that and it's got to be community led,
- 26:22Speaker 2: and we've got to get the community back. And that's
- 26:24Speaker 2: my biggest fear about your neighborhood is that it doesn't
- 26:27Speaker 2: look like the neighborhood you left that.
- 26:29Speaker 8: Okay, And that was one of That was one of
- 26:31Speaker 8: the questions. I came up with some questions to ask you,
- 26:33Speaker 8: and that was one of mine. Is maintaining the aesthetic,
- 26:35Speaker 8: you know, and I use for an example, Santa Barbara
- 26:38Speaker 8: one hundred years ago, so much as Santa Barbara burned
- 26:41Speaker 8: and then you know, and I don't know who made
- 26:43Speaker 8: the decision, but we're going to build back Spanish style. Yeah,
- 26:45Speaker 8: and so span you know, Santa Barbara now has that
- 26:47Speaker 8: beautiful Spanish aesthetic to all the buildings and community buildings
- 26:51Speaker 8: and libraries and houses and everything. It's got, you know,
- 26:54Speaker 8: it's really got that aesthetic to it, you know. And
- 26:57Speaker 8: so I don't know, do we have any control over that?
- 27:01Speaker 8: Do we not have a control?
- 27:03Speaker 4: You know?
- 27:03Speaker 8: Is that a county level is at a state level.
- 27:05Speaker 8: And then you know, luckily I have state farm. I
- 27:09Speaker 8: wasn't dropped, and I did an insurance review recently. Well
- 27:13Speaker 8: and and but my concern is people that are under
- 27:16Speaker 8: insured and don't have the money, and you know it
- 27:19Speaker 8: it's more costly to build a house with a unique
- 27:23Speaker 8: house than a cookie cutter house, and then a character
- 27:26Speaker 8: house did a cost even more than that, And you know,
- 27:29Speaker 8: do people want to do it? They just want to
- 27:30Speaker 8: say I want to get my house back, and I
- 27:32Speaker 8: know it could be a long process. So you know,
- 27:34Speaker 8: that was one of my concerns.
- 27:35Speaker 2: For sure, I appreciate it. So as we were quite
- 27:39Speaker 2: literally battling the fires, we were also battling bureaucracy and
- 27:43Speaker 2: starting to organize a framework for rebuilding and doing it
- 27:47Speaker 2: from the bottom up, not the top down, and making
- 27:50Speaker 2: sure it's a community lead process, community lead process. It's
- 27:55Speaker 2: not the state, it's not the federal government mandating and dictating.
- 27:58Speaker 2: And so what we're doing is clearing all of the
- 28:03Speaker 2: bureaucratic brush from the rebuilding frame so that their state
- 28:08Speaker 2: is not in the way and we're moving fast. So
- 28:10Speaker 2: that's that includes the debris removal, where we did an
- 28:13Speaker 2: executive order to get the HASMAT teams out there early
- 28:17Speaker 2: and by the way, in your community, has the the
- 28:20Speaker 2: damage assessments are almost done, which is great. They've got
- 28:25Speaker 2: that done in record time, and the HASMAT teams will
- 28:28Speaker 2: be out there starting to remove all the battery all
- 28:31Speaker 2: batteries and and you know pro paying tanks, et cetera.
- 28:34Speaker 2: And concurrently then the debris removal begin and you can
- 28:37Speaker 2: opt in, as you know, if you have insurance. You
- 28:39Speaker 2: can decide for yourself if you want to do your
- 28:41Speaker 2: own debris removal, or you can do a right of
- 28:44Speaker 2: entry where the Army Corps and their contractors could come
- 28:48Speaker 2: in and do that. But concurrently, we'll be in this
- 28:51Speaker 2: planning process. UH and the states trying to focus now
- 28:54Speaker 2: on how we leverage supplies, how we leverage materials to
- 28:58Speaker 2: keep prices and check, how we leverage workforce. Working with
- 29:02Speaker 2: a community college and our state labor agencies, we're looking
- 29:06Speaker 2: at regionalizing that workforce even out of state because we're
- 29:10Speaker 2: mindful of the pressures across the spectrum. Hey, thank you
- 29:14Speaker 2: for checking in, and more importantly, thank you for your spirit. Brother,
- 29:18Speaker 2: thank you.
- 29:18Speaker 8: For being Oh yeah, it's not just my spirit, it's
- 29:20Speaker 8: everybody's spirits. I'm sure you've seen it walking around and
- 29:24Speaker 8: I'm sure people take their time to cry, and like
- 29:26Speaker 8: I said, I'll probably do my crying when everything settles down.
- 29:28Speaker 8: But the things that brought tears to my eye are
- 29:31Speaker 8: just the joy of people and the helping people, and
- 29:33Speaker 8: you know, people overhearing. I was at breakfast and they're like, oh,
- 29:36Speaker 8: we got your breakfast, don't worry, and just everybody wanted
- 29:38Speaker 8: to help me. You know, I'm sure you've had this
- 29:40Speaker 8: discussion many times, and you know, in the disaster, why can't.
- 29:43Speaker 4: We stay like this?
- 29:43Speaker 2: Yeah, you know I love that.
- 29:45Speaker 8: Well, thank you for everything you're doing, and thank you
- 29:47Speaker 8: for the updates.
- 29:48Speaker 2: I appreciate you. Thank you so much. I'm so sorry
- 29:50Speaker 2: for everything you're struggling with going through.
- 29:52Speaker 4: Keep it up, brother, Thank you and your team for
- 29:54Speaker 4: everything you're doing.
- 29:55Speaker 2: Thank you.
- 30:05Speaker 1: We have Julia up next in Hollywood. She worked in
- 30:10Speaker 1: Palisades Village, which didn't burn down, but she currently can't
- 30:14Speaker 1: work at the location because it's shut down. This is
- 30:17Speaker 1: an iHeartRadio California town hall with Governor Newsom. Julia.
- 30:22Speaker 9: You're on him, mister Newson.
- 30:23Speaker 2: How are you, Julia? How are you?
- 30:26Speaker 9: I'm okay. I'm a little stressed out. I did lose
- 30:29Speaker 9: my job. Yeah, and unemployment is only paying me two
- 30:33Speaker 9: hundred dollars a week, whereas at the restaurant I worked out,
- 30:37Speaker 9: I made twelve hundred dollars a week.
- 30:39Speaker 2: Twelve hundred a week. Yeah, we'll take a look at that.
- 30:43Speaker 2: And I say that not just take a look at that.
- 30:45Speaker 2: I just did a supplement with edd and the the
- 30:49Speaker 2: Unemployment insurance to just quickly get an additional twenty million
- 30:54Speaker 2: dollars directly into the region to supplement further. That's a
- 30:59Speaker 2: perfect example that gap between where you were and where
- 31:02Speaker 2: you need to be.
- 31:03Speaker 9: Yeah, I also saw that as many as thirty five
- 31:06Speaker 9: thousand jobs can be lost permanently because of the Los
- 31:09Speaker 9: Angeles fires. For many workers like me living paycheck to paycheck,
- 31:13Speaker 9: already struggling to pay bills, missing out on even a
- 31:17Speaker 9: week's worth of work can be severely detrimental. Are you
- 31:20Speaker 9: planning to introduce legislation to help disaster victims with debt
- 31:24Speaker 9: relief such as temporary interest charge freezes, to forgiveness programs,
- 31:28Speaker 9: or disaster related unemployment compensation.
- 31:31Speaker 2: I appreciate the question, so let me tell you what
- 31:34Speaker 2: we did yesterday, and forgive me for jumping around, but
- 31:38Speaker 2: I just want to give you the totality of what
- 31:41Speaker 2: we're doing in real time that are direct responses to
- 31:45Speaker 2: your question and then broader. We have pushed back all
- 31:51Speaker 2: state taxes till October fifteenth. We push back property taxes
- 31:58Speaker 2: till April twenty two, twenty six, and people can apply
- 32:01Speaker 2: for a four year deferral on interest and penalties related
- 32:07Speaker 2: to property taxes. We're doing the same for sales and
- 32:11Speaker 2: use tax for small business. We're extending those time periods.
- 32:16Speaker 2: We are doing a two and a half billion dollar
- 32:18Speaker 2: state supplemental to provide relief and flexibility to fill in
- 32:23Speaker 2: the gaps along the lines of which you expressed. I
- 32:26Speaker 2: talked about that twenty million just very quickly under the
- 32:29Speaker 2: EDD through the unemployment insurance. We're working with the California
- 32:34Speaker 2: Foundation and the Latino Community Foundation to provide millions and millions.
- 32:40Speaker 2: We're going to raise hundreds of millions and philanthropic grants
- 32:43Speaker 2: to fill gaps as well, all in an effort to
- 32:46Speaker 2: provide support. We've got the price gouging rules as it
- 32:50Speaker 2: relates to evictions as well. We're addressing that issue. We're
- 32:55Speaker 2: trying to make sure that the rents and the costs
- 32:57Speaker 2: for services and goods are capped and we just have
- 33:01Speaker 2: to enforce that. And we're trying to get the SBA
- 33:04Speaker 2: to move quickly on helping these businesses, these small businesses
- 33:08Speaker 2: back on their feet as well.
- 33:10Speaker 9: Thank you.
- 33:11Speaker 2: I appreciate. I'm sorry what you're going through. I started
- 33:15Speaker 2: the restaurant businesses. Uh, that's that's that's how I that's
- 33:19Speaker 2: my my that's how I got out of college open
- 33:22Speaker 2: my first restaurant. And I appreciate everything you do in
- 33:26Speaker 2: that space and in the service industry and in the
- 33:29Speaker 2: impact this is this has had on that industry in
- 33:32Speaker 2: this region.
- 33:33Speaker 10: Uh.
- 33:34Speaker 2: But I hope you'll. I hope you'll you'll rebound and
- 33:36Speaker 2: quickly and our team will fall up with you on
- 33:39Speaker 2: the supplemental unemployment.
- 33:41Speaker 9: Thank you. And is there like a timeline of when
- 33:43Speaker 9: I'll be able to go.
- 33:44Speaker 5: Back to work.
- 33:45Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just I mean, we're moving heaven and earth
- 33:47Speaker 2: to get the damage assessment work done in the Palisades,
- 33:52Speaker 2: and then get the hazardous material material, which is phase
- 33:55Speaker 2: one of the debris removal done within the next sixty days,
- 33:58Speaker 2: and then currently starting the larger debris removal so people
- 34:03Speaker 2: can start rebuilding for properties that have been completely damaged.
- 34:08Speaker 2: People can come in individually, people with insurance. Businesses that
- 34:11Speaker 2: were not impacted. Once we have the repopulation plans done
- 34:17Speaker 2: and safety zones established and the utilities and suppression systems
- 34:21Speaker 2: back up, we're hoping to get those businesses up and
- 34:24Speaker 2: moving as quickly as possible. And SBA, we're hoping to
- 34:28Speaker 2: hold them. I mean, we're not hoping we will hold
- 34:30Speaker 2: them accountable to doing their job as well as well
- 34:33Speaker 2: as our business, state, business agencies, and local and.
- 34:37Speaker 9: Regional Do you think it's fair that some employees have
- 34:40Speaker 9: been told to use paid time off to cover the
- 34:43Speaker 9: miss wages.
- 34:44Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I have to look into the details of that.
- 34:47Speaker 2: I mean, we've expanded paid support and we actually just
- 34:52Speaker 2: expanded in January, and this is important, higher reimbursement for
- 34:57Speaker 2: lower wage workers. That was a that just went in
- 35:00Speaker 2: effect in January. But that's that's something we're going to
- 35:04Speaker 2: have to monitor. And I appreciate you bringing that up
- 35:06Speaker 2: specifically as as an example of how some businesses may
- 35:11Speaker 2: not necessarily be protecting their employees as they should. So
- 35:15Speaker 2: thank you for that insight.
- 35:17Speaker 9: Well, thank you for speaking to me.
- 35:19Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm sorry what you're going through.
- 35:22Speaker 1: Next is Jet from Los Angeles, a freshman at Palisades
- 35:27Speaker 1: Charter High School. Sixty percent of the school burned down.
- 35:31Speaker 1: Jet was evacuated and finally got word their house has
- 35:35Speaker 1: power again this morning. Good and he's returning home today.
- 35:38Speaker 1: Governor Newsom. This is Jet.
- 35:40Speaker 11: How you doing buddy, Hi, Governor, I'm doing good.
- 35:43Speaker 2: I can't even imagine how is how are you and
- 35:46Speaker 2: the other your all your friends that you know having
- 35:50Speaker 2: an impact at school? Man, that's something you'll never forget
- 35:53Speaker 2: how you handle it.
- 35:55Speaker 11: Yeah, So it's been a little bit like depressing in
- 35:58Speaker 11: a way because I was really looking forward to this
- 36:01Speaker 11: next semester of posades. Yeah, and then like literally even
- 36:04Speaker 11: the matter of twenty four hours, like it all turned
- 36:06Speaker 11: upside down and a lot of my friends have already
- 36:09Speaker 11: transferred schools. A lot of my friends are moving different places,
- 36:13Speaker 11: and yeah, it's just kind of crazy.
- 36:15Speaker 2: What how about you? Are you? What do you? Are
- 36:17Speaker 2: you able to? Have you transferred another district? What are
- 36:20Speaker 2: your what's your current status?
- 36:23Speaker 11: I think we're going to ride out this year and
- 36:25Speaker 11: see what happens and maybe we get back on campus
- 36:27Speaker 11: this year hopefully. But yeah, we're gonna finish this year.
- 36:31Speaker 2: I think that's good. It's it's critical, and I appreciate
- 36:35Speaker 2: your mindset in that respect. We it's it's cold comfort
- 36:39Speaker 2: to you because it's a technical thing. But one of
- 36:41Speaker 2: the first actions we took after the fire was allowing
- 36:45Speaker 2: flexibility so you can transfer to another district nearby district
- 36:50Speaker 2: and there were issues around class sizes and other technical
- 36:54Speaker 2: state issues that we were able to wave through. But
- 36:57Speaker 2: we'd love your feedback, not just today, just over the
- 37:01Speaker 2: course the next days and months, if there's other things
- 37:04Speaker 2: we can be doing. Things you're hearing, things you're hearing
- 37:07Speaker 2: from the schools themselves, meaning from the administrators of other
- 37:13Speaker 2: flexibilities and supports that we can provide. Okay, I appreciate it.
- 37:19Speaker 2: So did you are you back in school now?
- 37:21Speaker 11: So our school was supposed to start on I think
- 37:24Speaker 11: January fourteenth, but now we're starting on Tuesday this week
- 37:28Speaker 11: online online.
- 37:29Speaker 2: Yeah, and you went through that with COVID as.
- 37:32Speaker 11: Well, right, yeah, in fifth grade, like my whole year
- 37:34Speaker 11: is online as well.
- 37:36Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't imagine you're looking forward to that again.
- 37:39Speaker 11: Huh No, Yeah, I'm not really looking forward to it.
- 37:42Speaker 11: That's kind of been like the worst part because obviously,
- 37:44Speaker 11: like the social part of high school life is like
- 37:46Speaker 11: the best part.
- 37:47Speaker 2: So of course, of course, well man, you're gonna come
- 37:51Speaker 2: out stronger than you can't even imagine, more resilient than
- 37:55Speaker 2: you can imagine, and the stuff you'll face in your
- 37:58Speaker 2: life will pale and comparison to this. So you're going
- 38:01Speaker 2: to crush it going forward.
- 38:02Speaker 11: Brother, Thank you.
- 38:04Speaker 2: I wish you all the best. And and let's stay
- 38:06Speaker 2: in touch.
- 38:08Speaker 11: All right, thank you, thank you man.
- 38:10Speaker 1: Now we have Elizabeth in Malibu. She lost her home
- 38:13Speaker 1: in the Palisades fire. Her business building is still standing,
- 38:17Speaker 1: but it is inoperable. So Governor Newsom, this is Elizabeth.
- 38:21Speaker 2: Hi, Elizabeth, how you holding in.
- 38:24Speaker 10: I'm I'm doing okay. This has been a this has
- 38:27Speaker 10: been a tough one.
- 38:29Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 38:30Speaker 10: I've been through the ninety three fire, the Woolsey fire,
- 38:35Speaker 10: the earthquake, COVID and and I have to say, of
- 38:40Speaker 10: all of those, this is by far the toughest, the
- 38:45Speaker 10: toughest one. You know, we're kind of looking to the
- 38:48Speaker 10: government to help us. We you know, so I've lost
- 38:52Speaker 10: I lost my home as well. So I lost my home.
- 38:55Speaker 10: I lived over near the Getty Villa and that was
- 38:58Speaker 10: just decimated. And you know, that's that's a tough loss.
- 39:02Speaker 10: You know, it's all the kids, baby cups, and you know,
- 39:06Speaker 10: all the memories that you have. It's just it's a
- 39:08Speaker 10: really it's almost you kind of don't even really comprehend
- 39:12Speaker 10: that that it's happened still, you know, because we haven't
- 39:15Speaker 10: really been able to get up there and all of that.
- 39:18Speaker 10: But one of my the question that I wanted to
- 39:21Speaker 10: ask you, is that in in September of last year,
- 39:27Speaker 10: I got a letter from State Farm and they dropped
- 39:30Speaker 10: my insurance and so I had to try to get
- 39:35Speaker 10: other insurance, couldn't get it because of where I live,
- 39:39Speaker 10: and so then I was offered California a fair plan.
- 39:45Speaker 4: Which I did.
- 39:46Speaker 6: So, you know, they dropped me.
- 39:49Speaker 10: And I've been with them for thirty years, not only
- 39:52Speaker 10: not only in my residence but in my business. And
- 39:58Speaker 10: you know, I just I find it incomprehensible that they
- 40:02Speaker 10: can do that, and I'm you know, really asking you
- 40:07Speaker 10: to see what you can help us with. You know,
- 40:09Speaker 10: there's about sixteen hundred policies families that they've dropped. I
- 40:14Speaker 10: mean that's not a lot. I mean in the scheme
- 40:16Speaker 10: of their entire organization, that's not a lot. And you know,
- 40:22Speaker 10: and I and I know that Governor I mean Commissioner
- 40:25Speaker 10: Laura has asked them and they agreed to make it
- 40:30Speaker 10: retroactive for ninety days, which is great. But you know,
- 40:35Speaker 10: they started dropping people in March, and I feel like
- 40:38Speaker 10: they should be taking care of us, you know, I mean,
- 40:41Speaker 10: it's such a devastating time for us, and you know
- 40:45Speaker 10: that their company is worth one hundred and thirty four
- 40:48Speaker 10: billion dollars and you know to you know, and for
- 40:52Speaker 10: California Fair Plan, it's a million dollars less than I
- 40:56Speaker 10: had on my policy with State Farm.
- 40:58Speaker 4: So it's a big hit.
- 41:00Speaker 2: So a number of things. By the way, that's sixteen
- 41:02Speaker 2: hundred you know what, You were exactly right. They dropped
- 41:06Speaker 2: sixteen hundred plans about seventy percent of the market in
- 41:10Speaker 2: that area to the commissioner, and I appreciate your reference
- 41:15Speaker 2: to what he's trying to do in the cloudback. Also,
- 41:17Speaker 2: moving forward, we extended a one year moratorium on the
- 41:21Speaker 2: ability to drop the plan. It's not extended for commercial
- 41:25Speaker 2: and we're trying to work a legislative strategy to address
- 41:28Speaker 2: the commercial anxieties in that space moving forward, so they
- 41:31Speaker 2: can't do this in the middle of this disaster. The
- 41:34Speaker 2: Fair Plan that you're on, it's just for those that
- 41:37Speaker 2: are not familiar with it, and I'll get to your
- 41:39Speaker 2: specific concern. The Fair Plan was established in nineteen sixty eight.
- 41:44Speaker 2: It's not a government plan, it's not taxpayer funded plan.
- 41:50Speaker 2: It's a syndicate pool made up of all of these
- 41:53Speaker 2: actual insurers that are in the market, including State Farm.
- 41:57Speaker 2: But to your point, it caps at three million dollars.
- 42:01Speaker 2: It doesn't provide the kind of coverage you can get
- 42:03Speaker 2: on these admitted market based plans, and there's some questions.
- 42:07Speaker 2: We're doing the assessment. There was a back of the
- 42:10Speaker 2: envelope assessment and again this is back of the envelope
- 42:13Speaker 2: about three point seven billion dollars of exposure just related
- 42:18Speaker 2: to the Palisades fire. And we're getting the update of
- 42:21Speaker 2: the impacts on the Eton fire as it relates to
- 42:24Speaker 2: the exposure to the Fair Plan and how then the
- 42:27Speaker 2: Fair Plan can pay everybody out in a timely way.
- 42:30Speaker 2: They do have reinsurance, So I want to re ensure
- 42:33Speaker 2: you that there is a reinsurance policy that that that
- 42:38Speaker 2: should that should get us to look, you're going to
- 42:41Speaker 2: get You're going to get what you deserve under that plan,
- 42:44Speaker 2: and we're going to do everything to make sure that happens.
- 42:47Speaker 2: But the broader issue of stabilizing this insurance market, to
- 42:51Speaker 2: Commissioner Lara's credit, there was a lot of progress being
- 42:54Speaker 2: made this last year. You can't make this up. In Paradise, Californi.
- 43:00Speaker 2: After the campfire just last week, literally ten days ago
- 43:05Speaker 2: or so, one of the major insurans announced they were
- 43:08Speaker 2: reinsuring people in Paradise because of some of the reforms
- 43:13Speaker 2: that were being made in the state to stabilize the
- 43:16Speaker 2: insurance market. That's cold comfort, I know to you, but
- 43:20Speaker 2: I want you to know that we're not reacting to
- 43:24Speaker 2: that insurance crisis. We for a year and a half,
- 43:27Speaker 2: I did an executive order and the Commissioner's been driving
- 43:30Speaker 2: reforms that were finally making a difference in stabilizing the
- 43:33Speaker 2: market and getting people back providing that coverage. But what
- 43:38Speaker 2: you've exampled is accountability for a major insurer that just
- 43:42Speaker 2: exited the market. And they may be smiling behind the
- 43:46Speaker 2: scenes from a dollars and cents perspective, but it makes
- 43:50Speaker 2: a lot of sense to me for you to ask
- 43:53Speaker 2: someone like me and the Insurance Commission what the hell
- 43:55Speaker 2: we can do to get them to face a little
- 43:58Speaker 2: accountability on the impact they've just had on this community.
- 44:01Speaker 10: I mean, I think from you know, March, you know,
- 44:04Speaker 10: I think March is when they started dropping everybody, and
- 44:07Speaker 10: it's just I mean, it's just so you know, there's
- 44:11Speaker 10: no good faith there, there's no there's no you know,
- 44:13Speaker 10: they're not they're not standing behind them. And again they're
- 44:16Speaker 10: worth one hundred and thirty four billion dollars. And you
- 44:19Speaker 10: know that that's off their twenty twenty three report. And
- 44:23Speaker 10: they I believe they say, because I just actually had
- 44:26Speaker 10: it pulled up weight of course, my phone just went
- 44:28Speaker 10: out one sec. They said, we are financially strong one
- 44:32Speaker 10: hundred and thirty four point eight billion dollars. And it
- 44:36Speaker 10: just you know, to me when you know, you know,
- 44:39Speaker 10: California Fair Plan, even with FEMA, it's not enough to
- 44:43Speaker 10: build a home. You know, building out here is one
- 44:45Speaker 10: thousand dollars a square foot, as you know, and that's low.
- 44:48Speaker 10: And I mean, I'm an interior designer. I build all
- 44:50Speaker 10: day long. I work with clients every single day, and
- 44:54Speaker 10: you know that's low. So you know you're looking at
- 44:56Speaker 10: a twenty three hundred square foot that's two million three
- 44:59Speaker 10: that's I mean, nobody has that money from their insurance policies.
- 45:03Speaker 6: And so what are we going to you know, what
- 45:04Speaker 6: are we going to do? How are we going to.
- 45:05Speaker 10: Build back the beautiful Pacific Palisades, which is one of
- 45:09Speaker 10: the most I grew up in Connecticut and New Canaan, Connecticut.
- 45:12Speaker 10: It's gorgeous little town and the Palisades is just like
- 45:15Speaker 10: that you know, right close to the beach and so
- 45:17Speaker 10: and the community is so tight and so strong, and
- 45:21Speaker 10: I know we will build back, but you know, I
- 45:24Speaker 10: just it's it's just really I hope that you guys
- 45:28Speaker 10: can help us, because it's such a tough space for
- 45:32Speaker 10: us to be in.
- 45:33Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I'm deeply mindful in the rebuild. And you
- 45:36Speaker 2: may have seen we are suspending the Coastal Act and sequel.
- 45:39Speaker 2: We're driving permitting reform and doing everything to move having
- 45:44Speaker 2: and earth to make sure that when we rebuild some
- 45:47Speaker 2: of the burdens and costs and delays all that is removed,
- 45:51Speaker 2: as well as looking at some larger master pulled contracts
- 45:55Speaker 2: to lower construction costs and supply chain issues including workforce
- 46:00Speaker 2: which is going to be scarce as well, so that
- 46:02Speaker 2: we don't see those costs skyrocket. And then address, as
- 46:05Speaker 2: you say, the gaps between insurance and that reality on rebuilding.
- 46:10Speaker 2: And that's where this massive philanthropic effort is going to
- 46:15Speaker 2: take shape. We've already raised tens of millions of dollars,
- 46:18Speaker 2: We're about to announce significantly more in the next few
- 46:22Speaker 2: hours in fact, and then we're going to be asking
- 46:26Speaker 2: the federal government to get back some of California tax
- 46:29Speaker 2: pair of money, including yours as a donor state California,
- 46:33Speaker 2: and a massive supplemental in Congress, so we can fill
- 46:37Speaker 2: those gaps and we can address that concern you just highlighted.
- 46:40Speaker 6: Okay, thank you so much, Governor. I really appreciate your time.
- 46:43Speaker 2: Thank you.
- 46:44Speaker 1: Pam has our final question in Pacific Palisades. She lost
- 46:48Speaker 1: her home of twenty eight years. Pam, you're on with
- 46:51Speaker 1: Governor Newsom.
- 46:53Speaker 2: Hi, Hi, Pam.
- 46:54Speaker 12: Thank you for the time today.
- 46:56Speaker 2: Governor are you holding up?
- 46:58Speaker 12: Oh well? Shout out to all of our friends and
- 47:02Speaker 12: strangers of the city of Los Angeles.
- 47:05Speaker 2: Ela.
- 47:05Speaker 12: You've hugged us. Thank you, Governor Newson. We've heard discussions
- 47:12Speaker 12: and the possibility to live in an RV or a
- 47:14Speaker 12: tiny home or mobile on our property while we rebuild.
- 47:18Speaker 12: I think, wow, what a savings and rent. We can
- 47:22Speaker 12: apply those funds to a rebuild. We have a smaller property,
- 47:28Speaker 12: and so of those who have smaller properties, would it
- 47:31Speaker 12: be possible to have an opportunity to have a parking
- 47:35Speaker 12: permit on the street? Oh yeah, or create an area,
- 47:39Speaker 12: a designated area that has community services.
- 47:41Speaker 5: Where we could park.
- 47:42Speaker 12: Maybe we can pull in park in the nighttime when
- 47:44Speaker 12: materials are delivered, we can move to another area of
- 47:48Speaker 12: the town. I just I love the idea and I
- 47:50Speaker 12: love that opportunity, and I love.
- 47:52Speaker 2: Your example, particularly with smaller units. You're right, I mean,
- 47:55Speaker 2: you know, we had in mind that people could be
- 47:58Speaker 2: in a larger driveway footprint as the buildings being constructed
- 48:01Speaker 2: next to it, but yours is a perfect example where
- 48:03Speaker 2: that may be constrained. And so absolutely, it's a great
- 48:06Speaker 2: specific example that we need to work with the cities
- 48:10Speaker 2: that have been impacted to see if we can accommodate.
- 48:12Speaker 2: By the way, Pam, thank you for even recognizing I
- 48:15Speaker 2: did one of these eleven executive orders, which are just
- 48:19Speaker 2: fancy ways of just like no time to process laws.
- 48:23Speaker 2: We're just making them to allow people to have ADUs
- 48:26Speaker 2: to allow them to have trailers on their property as
- 48:29Speaker 2: they rebuild. So we've dealt with zoning issues in that respect.
- 48:33Speaker 2: But you're talking now about a public right away as
- 48:36Speaker 2: it relates to the public space and the parking, and
- 48:39Speaker 2: that's something we can run up the flag pole and
- 48:41Speaker 2: it's a great example of something that we could push
- 48:44Speaker 2: local government to accommodate. And by the way, just broadly
- 48:48Speaker 2: We're working with FEMA on massive, massive investments and procurement,
- 48:54Speaker 2: on providing people that don't have the means of even
- 48:58Speaker 2: providing for their our own temporary facility to construct these
- 49:03Speaker 2: prefab these units and get them out in operational and
- 49:07Speaker 2: on these properties as quick as possible.
- 49:11Speaker 12: Sprinters with wheels, our v's with wheels. We can be
- 49:13Speaker 12: there at night, move during the day when materials get
- 49:16Speaker 12: deliver it anyway. I love I love this out of
- 49:19Speaker 12: the box thinking so thank you, no, thank you?
- 49:22Speaker 2: And and if I may Pam, how long how long
- 49:27Speaker 2: you've been living in the community.
- 49:31Speaker 12: Since nineteen ninety six, so what is that twenty nine?
- 49:35Speaker 12: My mouth is bad. Yeah, while a long time. We
- 49:37Speaker 12: love our neighbors. We hope to be back with all
- 49:40Speaker 12: of our neighbors. And it's just unbelievable. This is it's
- 49:45Speaker 12: the wild wild West by the way out there trying
- 49:48Speaker 12: to secure a rental. We have crazy stories. I'm like
- 49:50Speaker 12: in a reality show without cameras, but it's horrific and
- 49:54Speaker 12: crazy right.
- 49:54Speaker 2: Now, just meaning how people are taking advantage of this crisis.
- 49:58Speaker 12: It's just it's a numbers uh scarce inventory, which there
- 50:02Speaker 12: always was, and now you have all these extra people
- 50:04Speaker 12: who need housing.
- 50:05Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's why this example you brought up is
- 50:08Speaker 2: so important, because it will be critical to accommodate and
- 50:12Speaker 2: uh and and to supplement that scarcity of supply. I'm
- 50:15Speaker 2: sorry everything you're going through, but thank you for your
- 50:18Speaker 2: spirit and thank you for for your insight. And I'm
- 50:21Speaker 2: going to circle back very quickly on your specific example.
- 50:24Speaker 12: All right, thank you, thank you, thank you.
- 50:28Speaker 2: So I just want to thank everybody all these remarkable stories,
- 50:32Speaker 2: remarkable people. Thank you for your resilience, thank you for
- 50:35Speaker 2: your willingness to share your stories so publicly, your heartbreak.
- 50:41Speaker 2: But one thing I just you know, reflecting on the
- 50:44Speaker 2: conversations we just had, was thank you for maintaining your
- 50:48Speaker 2: your your your spirit. Thank you for expressing your pride
- 50:53Speaker 2: in your communities, uh, your love of your neighbor. Thank
- 50:56Speaker 2: you for for staying optimistic and not giving in. You know,
- 51:01Speaker 2: is remarkable that here's the story is just reminding us
- 51:05Speaker 2: what everybody's been through, you know, with COVID and you know,
- 51:09Speaker 2: just you know, a young child that you know they're
- 51:13Speaker 2: back on zoom again years and years later, and the
- 51:17Speaker 2: challenges everybody is faced over the course the last decade.
- 51:21Speaker 2: And here we are at this remarkable moment in the
- 51:26Speaker 2: history of Southern California, in our state, and and so
- 51:29Speaker 2: my state of minds want to resolve, not just resilient.
- 51:33Speaker 2: And I hope all of you stay strong and resolved.
- 51:37Speaker 2: I know we have your back, and we're going to
- 51:38Speaker 2: be back. We're not turning our backs when the cameras
- 51:42Speaker 2: turn off. We're going to continue to monitor progress. We're
- 51:45Speaker 2: going to hold ourselves to a higher level of accountability
- 51:48Speaker 2: with humility and grace, constantly iterating, constantly addressing issues seen
- 51:55Speaker 2: but also the issues that are unseen today that will
- 51:57Speaker 2: present themselves a new I heard loud and clear some
- 52:01Speaker 2: of the frustrations with FEMA applications, SBA disaster loans and
- 52:07Speaker 2: the importance of making sure that process is more streamlined
- 52:10Speaker 2: and more seamless. I want to mind everybody that wants
- 52:14Speaker 2: just basic information across the spectrum of federal supports, state support,
- 52:20Speaker 2: as well as local support. We've got this website CAA
- 52:23Speaker 2: dot gov slash LA Fires CAA dot gov slash la Fires,
- 52:28Speaker 2: which aggregates all that information can help you navigate through
- 52:32Speaker 2: all of this. This California Rises Fund we've created is
- 52:38Speaker 2: a great fund working with the California Fire Foundation to
- 52:41Speaker 2: support no overhead in this to support critical programs for
- 52:47Speaker 2: those in critical need. And then this La Rises Council
- 52:51Speaker 2: we just announced is all about building back, stronger, more resilient,
- 52:55Speaker 2: addressing so many of the concerns that were brought up
- 52:58Speaker 2: in today's conversation. So on behalf of all of us,
- 53:04Speaker 2: all forty one hundred and forty million Californians, and all
- 53:08Speaker 2: of us there are still act there sixteen thousand personnel
- 53:11Speaker 2: still active addressing the challenges and needs of people. I
- 53:15Speaker 2: just want to thank you all of you for joining
- 53:18Speaker 2: us today and again, please stay in touch and engage
- 53:23Speaker 2: and go to c A dot gov slash La Fires
- 53:28Speaker 2: for more information.