Lot after lot in the Via de las Olas bluffs are still empty a year after the fire.
President Donald Trump was distressed by lack of rebuilding a year after the Palisades and Eton Fires. In a January 27, executive order, Trump addressed that failure.
On January 28, he appointed Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin to help homeowners get permits and move forward click here.
During the morning of February 4, 2025, Zeldin and SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler met first with L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and then L.A. Mayor Karen Bass for feedback on why the rebuild process has been so slow.
A roundtable discussion to address the slow rebuild process was held at the American Legion Wednesday, led by EPA’s Lee Zeldin.
A few hours later at the Ronald Reagan American Legion Post 283 in Pacific Palisades, the two listened as about 12 residents with different perspectives and from different parts of town, detailed the issues they had experienced.
Zeldin told them they were here to figure out “how to break the log jam.” He said he had heard about HOA’s and those challenges and about the fire hydrants not working. He said he wanted to hear everything and that “nothing is off limits.”
Loeffler and Zeldin urged people to “let us know how we can help” and “be candid.”
The first Palisadian who spoke said that permitting was going at light speed, that debris removal had been fast, but that residents have heard from the city that “we don’t have the money” . . .to fix infrastructure, such as undergrounding, streets and streetlights.
Several times Zeldin emphasized that there should be specific asks from the city/state to the federal government, not aspirational asks. If the street repairs will cost a certain amount, ask for that amount not several billion over what the actual cost will be.
A reoccurring theme with residents was ensuring that when federal money might came, there should be oversight, so it didn’t end up in a “black” hole.
Zeldin said that Trump had said no affordable housing would be built in the Palisades.
A resident pointed out that Pacific Palisades had received a five-year reprieve from new affordable housing by Newsom under SB 79, but after five years it could be built.
“But we still don’t have ingress and egress in Pacific Palisades (for evacuations),” the resident said and pointed out that Palisades had affordable housing in the form of mobile home parks and housing at the base of Highlands Drive. Zeldin was asked if there was a way to help those residents come back. . . . “maybe through HUD,” he answered.
“We are struggling with insurance,” one resident said, and explained they had to provide receipts and photographs of possessions to insurance companies to get a payout. (Most people had a total loss and there are no records.)
One pointed out there’s “not enough money with the insurance gap,” between what construction costs and what insurance pays.
“It’s hard to rebuild when you don’t know what you’re going to get from insurance,” the resident said. “A year later people are still trying to get money.”
Zeldin asked specifically about the money, “What is the difference?”
“The policy said $1.8 million and we received a million,” the man said. “But even if we got the whole bucket, we’d still be underwater.” Construction costs in Southern California are generally between $800 and $1,000 a square foot.
The residents were asked if the State had weighed in or helped with insurance issues and the answer was “No.”
Another resident tried to explain about possessions. “Some carriers pay between 50 to 70 percent, but if you want the full amount they ask for photos and receipts.”
“With standing homes, insurance has not been helpful,” another said, who had paid for the remediation on their own, so they could move back home.
Another issue for many is that the mortgage on their burned home will come due after a year’s fire reprieve. That means that residents will have to pay mortgage and also rent (because many insurance companies only paid additional living expenses for a year). That leaves residents no money to rebuild.
“At the core, there’s no one size fits all,” a resident said, but for most, “It’s a real cash issue.”
Several of the residents asked Zeldin to look at setting up a local authority such as was done in lower Manhattan after 911. They pointed out Pacific Palisades has never received services from the City. “We’re an afterthought.”
A resident, who is back in her home, said, the streets need to be repaired because people pop tires driving on them, there are no streetlights, there are no police, the park is not fixed, and there are no street services.
More than one resident said, “no one trusts the local government. Why would you give them millions of dollars that will disappear?” and added that conditions should be put on any federal money.
Zeldin urged the panelists to respond via email to him, “if there was one thing for me to take back to the president, what would it be?” He reassured everyone that notes had been taken during the roundtable and that he would be back in Pacific Palisades to help, because Trump wanted to help residents recover.
Afterwards Zeldin spoke at a press conference across the street, at the former site of Seven Arrows School. He said that Trump’s Executive order was the result of Palisades residents contacting the President for help.
Trump had toured the Palisades in January 25, 2025. A month later, Trump sent the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in to do debris removal. This first in Pacific Palisades was February 11, and the entire town was done by August 26.
“Trump wants us to identify any possible way to help residents rebuild,” Zeldin said. “Follow through will be essential and critical. Trump expects the best of this team and we accept that challenge.”
He was asked if anything stood out. “One thing that hit me hard . . . it is apparent that there are a number of people waiting for insurance.
“Not every insurance company is equal,” he said. “I find it outrageous that insurance companies are holding people up. . . .having to prove that everything that burned, existed.”
Governor Gavin Newsom has asked for $33.9 billion in federal disaster relief. The state has already received $3 billion in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding and Trump wanted an audit of California’s use of that funding.
Zeldin said it didn’t help residents that the Newsom traded barbs with the President and then said “Where’s my money?
“The whole ask has been completely leveled by the governor campaigning for President,” Zeldin said. “There’s a strategy to ask for money.”
Palisades Long-term Recovery Coalition President Jim Cragg told CTN “I was happy with my discussions with Secretaries Zeldin and Loeffler, as well as the presentation they gave.
“They appear to be hearing us and understanding the depth of the challenges,” Cragg said. “I liked that Secretary Zeldin offered a road map to getting federal funding and support.”
More empty lots in Pacific Palisades. The streets, driveways and roads are in bad shape.