AECOM gave a report to the City about rebuilding and infrastructure that has not been released, yet.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass announced in June that AECOM, a global infrastructure consulting firm, had been selected to put together a long-term rebuilding plan for Pacific Palisades, which had been destroyed in the January 2025 Palisades Fire.
AECOM was to replace Hagerty, a private consulting firm hired by Mayor Bass on February 7 – it is unclear how much that firm made, fees were based on an hourly rate from $80 to $245.
At an August 7 Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting, AECOM Senior Vice President Matt Talley told residents there were three main areas of focus 1) Infrastructure – water and power, connecting DWP and the ongoing construction; 2) Fire Protection – how do we prevent something like this from happening again (including evacuation planning) and 3)Logistics and traffic management – when we continue construction how does that impact Sunset and PCH, how does it impact during the school year?
Residents were told AECOM would deliver three concrete plans in 120 days. The exact value of the contract wasn’t publicly disclosed, but an April 2025 Request for Proposals by the city for comprehensive recovery work was reportedly worth $30 million.
The report was finished at the beginning of December, and then turned into the city. Shortly afterwards, AECOM’s Talley left his position.
At the Palisades Democrat Annual meeting on February 1, CTN asked Mayor Bass about the status of the report. The Mayor said she had not seen it, that it had gone directly to the L.A. City Attorney’s office. Bass then introduced this editor to Hydee Feldstein Soto.
Feldstein Soto said that the report could possibly be released this week, February 9. She said that there were almost a thousand pages, three sections of more than 300 pages in each. The City Attorney said they had been asked by LAFD to redact personal information of firefighters to ensure privacy.
Today, February 9, CTN contacted the City Attorney’s office for an update. There was no response by post time. If there is a response, the story will be updated.