Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a balanced city budget on June 6. In a press release, items in the budget were highlighted and included:
- Restoration of more than 1,000 city positions at risk of layoff to ensure delivery of vital services like pothole repair, traffic management, positions that support future housing development and more.
- New investments in the Los Angeles Fire Department with more positions, funding for more paramedics and other resources and support.
- All sworn officers and firefighters are funded.
- Continued funding for 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers to lower wait times.
- Protection for homeless funding so people don’t end up back on the streets –
- Resources to continue driving the Palisades recovery forward with urgency.
- Library, Recreation and Park facility hours maintained.
- Support for capital infrastructure projects are included, such as:
- Staff for the planning, coordination of LA Convention Center
- Funding for Sepulveda Basin improvements
- Recreation facilities in San Fernando Valley & South LA
- All positions preserved for the Emergency Management Department with a priority to expand with future funding.
- Continued funding for RepresentLA to provide legal representation to Angelenos.
- Funding to keep all Animal Shelters open and add strategic additional staffing support.
Circling the News contacted the Mayor’s office and asked what resources would be used specifically for Palisades “recovery with urgency.”
Paige Sterling, spokesperson for the Mayor, responded that the 2025-26 City Budget specifically allocates $14.7 million for erosion control and debris removal for wildfire recovery in the Pacific Palisades.
There is another $3 million to replace damaged street signs and signals which have been identified as FEMA reimbursable costs.
The Budget also funds positions in multiple City departments to continue accelerating the rebuild in the Pacific Palisades. These departments include but are not limited to Building and Safety, City Administrative Officer (CAO), City Planning, and Transportation, as well as Public Works Bureaus such as Engineering, Sanitation, Street Lighting and Street Services.
Many Palisades residents may remember that the Mayor issued Emergency EO 7 to suspend the collection of permit fees associated with the repair or reconstruction of single-family structures and duplexes while City Council considers the adoption of an ordinance waiving the fees.
That executive order has to be approved by the City Council but has not. (People submitting building plans have to sign a notarized document that if the City Council does not approve a waiver of the fees, they will need to pay permit fees retroactively).
where is funds to underground power poles?!
Before we pay even more money for firefighters we need to first purge the ones responsible for this man-made catastrophe . So far only the fire chief was fired but there were a few hundred lounging in the beach, taking selfies and getting in the way of private contractors and civilians doing their jobs for them. We don’t need more firefighters. We need to replace the firefighters who chose to drink coffee for three days while our town was cremated.