After the Ashes: A Beautiful Altadena Podcast
We are Beautiful Altadena, the online community group that launched in 2015 and the Substack by the same name, and we started this podcast to ask: Who’s writing the rules of recovery, who benefits, and who’s being left out? This podcast will deep dive into the issues of recovery and rebuilding through the lens of policy.
Each episode, we’ll dissect the policies and bills impacting Altadena post Eaton Fire. We’ll break down what they say, what they really mean, who they affect, and what – and who – they leave out.
Your hosts:
Shawna Dawson Beer / Beautiful Altadena, Eaton Fire Total Loss Survivor
Stephen Sachs / AltaPolicyWonk, Eaton Fire Survivor, Current Altadena Resident
Every episode closes out with a local small business shout out. We are not advertiser, sponsor or grant funded and have no agenda beyond ensuring our Altadena neighbors are as in the know as possible so that we can all be our own best advocates for ourselves and our town.
After the Ashes: A Beautiful Altadena Podcast
Episode 16: The Long Rebuild – Nearing One Year and Facing What Comes Next
As we move closer to the one-year mark in January, After the Ashes takes stock of where Altadena’s recovery really stands — and what the next twelve months might bring.
We look at the rebuild by the numbers: 520 unique parcel permits issued and 334 active new builds now under inspection. Progress, yes — but uneven, and often inaccessible to those still navigating insurance, red tape, financial challenges and displacement.
From there, we turn to DC post Steve's recent trip. With the government shutdown and Democrats caving, the healthcare battle, and what all of this means for California and all of us.
And we end with a difficult but necessary conversation: excess deaths, suicides, and other fire-related losses that haven't made headlines, but continue to shape our community’s emotional and physical landscape.
Through data, stories, and shared accountability, we’re asking, how far have we come, and who’s still waiting for recovery to reach them?
This week's small biz shoutouts go to Tyler Well's (of Betsy @betsynotbetsys) who is continuing to invest in Altadena and on track to open his second all day concept at Mariposa Junction, plus Mariposa Junction's Grand Reopening on November 15.
Welcome back to After the Ashes, the beautiful Altina podcast, where we're breaking down legislation and recovery after the fire. This is your co-host Shauna here. This is episode 16. The long rebuild.
SPEAKER_00:Have we really done 16 episodes already?
SPEAKER_01:We've done 16 episodes. Thank you. You deserve a long service medal. This is the long rebuild, nearing a year and facing what comes next. Um, what are we gonna talk about today, Steve? We're gonna talk about heading into uh 12 months. The the we we just spoke in our last episode about how heavy things are feeling. We're gonna talk a little bit side, yeah. Yeah, on the emotional side. We're gonna talk a little bit about on the pragmatic numbers data side, where we're at on the rebuild as far as um what's actually happening in Altadina. Um some of the uh things that are are planned for the one year and um our very favorite subject money. Where is it? Where is it coming from?
SPEAKER_00:What's the plan? That's gonna be an interesting one. Um, but I I think we do you want to start with that or do you want to end?
SPEAKER_01:No, let's let's end with that. But I think you know, let's let's talk about heading into this. I know you had uh today before we were started recording, Steve said, you know, what do you think happens now? We were looking at some of the numbers and talking about that. And he was like, and now what? What's what's the next 12 months? And I, you know, it's anybody's guess.
SPEAKER_00:Well, now people are gonna have to actually make good on the promises.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. You know, it's this is where this is where the rubber meets the road.
SPEAKER_00:I think they get between now and the holiday in the new year, and once the parade's over, that's when people are gonna start saying, All right, yep, what's going on here?
SPEAKER_01:I think we're gonna have a bunch of you know, um anniversary, one-year anniversary events. I know there are a couple already planned. There's the concert.
SPEAKER_00:We're doing the run.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, there's the run, there's a concert, there's all of these things. So I think there's gonna be a little bit of that um uh resurgence of that energy, right? That really good shape to do the 10K. Steve tried to do a 5K. I used to run 5K. Your moon was nearly dead. Oh, it's but I'm not gonna talk shit because I I've run a few marathons, and if I had to go around the block right now, I'd probably fall over. I had to go back to the gym yesterday, and I was struggling with my free weight, so I'm gonna zip it over here. My glass house.
SPEAKER_00:The only marathon I did was 26 miles across Catalina.
SPEAKER_02:Woof.
SPEAKER_00:That was that was a little bit. That was that was legit. And I said, I'll never do another marathon again.
SPEAKER_01:I did the LA Marathon, and after training for and doing the LA Marathon, which I thought was gonna kill me, and that I would never do that again. I was like, actually, I really liked it. I'm I'm kind of like an anti-sports person. I never did team sports, it's just it was not my thing. The look on Steve's face, Steve is about to die of laughter over here.
SPEAKER_00:Play well with others line. That was so easy.
SPEAKER_01:It's true. I did not play well with others. Um, only child, what can I say? So um largely, you know, I didn't think I would get into running, but I did at 30. I was 30 when I ran my first marathon. I'd literally never run a mile in my life. And then I trained for a marathon, ran that marathon, loved it, did a few more, including the San Francisco women's marathon that kicked my ass. And I was thinking about that one because the race medal for that one was um because it was the women's marathon, it was a little um Tiffany's heart. And they was presented to all the women runners at the end of mile 26 by a large group of firemen. They had the San Francisco Fire Department out there, all the firemen.
SPEAKER_00:Um they had their shirts on, I presume.
SPEAKER_01:They did. Unfortunately, they did. Uh sorry, sorry, I shouldn't objectify anyone, including our first responders who actually do their jobs. Um, so they were out there. It was great. But I share that because it was bizarrely one of the only things that survived on my property. I mean, my property burned so hot there was like nothing, no signs of porcelain sinks and cast iron bathtubs, like just bizarrely nothing. All of that was just molten metal. But um, my tiny, I don't know how there's like one little area that must have somehow not quite burned as hot because the attic where a couple of holiday decorations were in a storage bin, when that came down and sandwiched on top of the bedroom below, and where I had a jewelry cabinet and a box with all my race metals and what have you, my LA Marathon metals, all of that. Um, in that one little pocket, there were a few kind of recognizable remnants, not much, but a few pieces from that one little pocket in the attic and that one little pocket in that jewelry box. And um, yeah, it was wild to see that. Um it was there. And a local artist, Sam, I wish I could remember Sam's last name to shout them out, um, shout did a really beautiful piece of like close-up black photo on black background photography of things that survived. And on my property, it was like one teacup from my mother's china set that was all, you know, porcelain and platinum, and the platinum etching had all turned red. It's it's a trip. Um, a piece of jewelry that was a jade medallion that jade turns white. Um, that metal that is just like corroded and just distorted, but you know, that little tiny Tiffany's heart. And um, the most bizarre in hanging from my completely charred black burn trees, not a single tree on my property survived, and one of my massive mature trees that was just completely a burnt twig hanging from it completely intact was a wooden birdhouse. It's no rhyme or reason, folks. And I have that is stranger than fiction. And so that is, I have those photographs anyhow. It's kind of wild. But um, you know, the question is like, what happens now, right? What happens next? I think we're gonna have the resurge of this energy and this like, you know, community spirit next year as we all kind of rally for each other, but you know, also at a year, where are we at? Right. And so um I've talking about specifically um, you know, some of the events, actually, before I get into like how the rebuild's going, and we're gonna talk about that. And before you get into talking about DC and and again, that the question of money, um, as we look at all these one-year events, and there's so many of them, you know, we were look thinking about doing something us, like our beautiful Altadina team with my co-admins. And, you know, everyone was like, you know what, Shauna? We're fucking tired. Like, like going to bed at eight o'clock and waking up at eight in the morning exhausted, tired. Like an existential exhaustion that is so beyond that that no one wants to be apathetic, but it's like we just we don't have it in us, you know, we just don't. Um, I know one of the other things beyond the run and um uh some of the other events, you know, one thing that came up is the Dawes concert, right? So for anyone who doesn't know Dawes, they are an indie band and an indie band um who's I believe I don't know if he's the lead singer, I think he is, but he's married to Mandy Moore, both of whom Altadina residents. Um, their home survived, it was damaged. I think they lost the ADU on their property or something like or a garage, like they lost part of the property, but their house survived. Anyhow, impacted um and are having this concert that is on January 7th on the anniversary that is going to be um a benefit concert for um the Altina Foundation for Rebuilding, which of course prompted a lot of people because you know, post-fire aid money and a lot of cynicism around where the hell that money has gone to. Um, people were like, who what is the Altina Foundation for Rebuilding and how does that actually benefit me? Um, that's the question being asked in the community.
SPEAKER_00:And um, you know, Steve, you and I were talking about this, that it's actually part of PCF that yeah, it's it's our contribution that was that we got from the fire aid money.
SPEAKER_01:Correct. So, you know, that's where that money will go. But it, you know, it begs that question still of like, where is this money going? You know, people are living in their cars. People have run out of ALE are living in their cars. People with children are living in their cars because they're not getting insurance dollars, they're not getting support, they're not getting FEMA money, they're not getting, you know, anything from private orgs. And so, you know, it's hard to not to wonder how where the fuck this money's going. And, you know, you don't want to be cynical about, you know, another fire survivor having an event to commemorate this and wanting to raise money. But, you know, it is like trickle-down economics. I mean, which, and we all know how effective that is. It's this money is going from org to org to org to org because there's no way or mechanism for anyone to just give cash grants. In fact, I feel like the only people doing that bluntly is Heavenly Hughes at My Tribe Rise, who has received fire aid grant money and has literally taken that money and turned it directly into direct cash aid for people in the community.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Look, I don't think anyone else is doing it.
SPEAKER_00:I I think I think the holidays is gonna present that period of time where a recalibration is gonna have to be made. Um the elections, I think, are gonna have some effect in some of these questions because I think in fact, I don't think any of this is actually really good for Al Sadena. I think it's the opposite, unfortunately. But I think these the deficiencies are going to still be there come January 7th, a year from and the the fundamental problems we've been talking about for the past six months still remain, right? The federal government's not bringing in any money. We'll talk about a potential path forward, but it's not a good path forward. Um the foundations are still under tremendous pressure, they're not gonna change. I think you know, the communities, the donor classes, they're moving on. And I think it's just you're waking up and you're looking around and you're seeing the reality of what we're dealing with, is that we're still here in the midst of it all. Everybody else is kind of moving on to the next thing, and especially as 2026 evolves and the midterms become more of an issue. You know, we've already seen the nationalization of state and local politics through the county's emergency declaration related to ICE, through Prop 50. It's a winner right now. Things like Al Sadena don't matter unless you make it somehow national.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. That is a sad reality. And I think also as we hit that one year, it's time to really look at like where are we really at on the rebuild? Where are we really at with getting any kind of accountability or answers for what went wrong so that we can move forward?
SPEAKER_00:The media is calling out our governments, and it's just like, okay, that's like that news cycle will pass and then we'll move on. You know, and it it's it's actually a very scary time because it just tells you it's telling them there's less and less accountability.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And in the ballot box, they're getting reaffirmed with record numbers. I mean, Gavin Newsom's sitting there with a 64% win on the on Prop 50 or 60, whatever the number was. And he's sitting there going, look, I'm getting more votes. And again, we already talked about that. That may not be necessarily true, maybe a little bit, but you know, he's there, there's no consequence right now. And without consequences, people are gonna continue to do the same thing over and over again, whether it's a child or whether it's an adult.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. Which is why some of us keep screaming from the rooftops that we need accountability, something meaningful. You know, nobody's gonna go to jail, even though people should go to jail over what happened here. Um, but at the very least, lose your fucking job, right? Like how are you still getting paid half a million dollars a year and not doing your job?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I I I think more what's scary is regardless of the person in there, it's the fact we're not seeing changes. Like we're not seeing the McCrystall report really didn't move the needle. No, it didn't.
SPEAKER_01:And but because it wasn't intended to. But they thought that they were going to do that and continue to brush this under the rug. Which they are. Well, well, they're trying to do, but you know, there are a lot of us who are still out there really vocal about this. That that's it's not acceptable.
SPEAKER_00:So one thing I've learned about government and they like to do, and anybody who's dealt with government at the highest levels knows they lean on you, right? When they want to win something, they just lean and it they just wait for you to get fatigued. And 99 times out of a hundred, people will get fatigued and walk away.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, but they haven't met me or Altadina. We Altadina is a dog with a bone right now. Um, yeah, and we're not dropping it, you know. We are a community, we are a very unique community um that includes a lot of activists. And people are not going to rest until this is addressed because it has to be addressed.
SPEAKER_00:So this is where I'm getting to. And I think that, you know, unless we create the alternative, unless we create that parallel universe that I've been talking about for a long time, you know, where we put them on their heels, where we it's not just sitting here, they can take the hits. They're okay to take the hits. They know that's the game. But what we have to do is now move beyond the hits and say, no, no, not only what are you doing is wrong, but now this is the direction we have to go that's right, and make them have to tell us no. That's that's the shift that has to happen.
SPEAKER_01:I agree. No, I agree.
SPEAKER_00:Activism is not very good at making that shift.
SPEAKER_01:I agree with you, which is why specifically, at least the group that I have been working with, and you I constantly talk about because I think it's important, Altina for Accountability, um has really looked very specifically at one campaign goal, not being um distracted by the hundred other tactics we would like, including, you know, camping out at Moroni's house, which I'm not opposed to, but you know, to ultimately move a needle, there needs to be something actionable done. And that is an investigation, a real investigation with teeth. Um, because we haven't had that. So I think as we go into the one year, um, like you said, it's like this is where the rubber meets the road. There needs to be account, something has got to give.
SPEAKER_00:It's or people have to deliver.
SPEAKER_01:Correct.
SPEAKER_00:There are promises that have been made.
SPEAKER_01:That's right.
SPEAKER_00:They go all the way up from senators to supervisors who have made promises to many different people.
SPEAKER_01:Make promises.
SPEAKER_00:Now those promises have to happen.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And, you know, I I I think what I've been saying a lot on my Substack, even back to April and March, or the end of March, beginning of April, and so on, is that I think Altadena really is a microcosm of some of the broader trends that we're seeing nationally and at the state level and uh in our politics today, right? We're at a point where substance has to start to evidence itself. And what that substance looks like, that's really gonna be the question. And what does that mean for us? How can we influence that substance? And that's what I've been trying to do. I've been doing it for years. Like that is my job. And I think that that's what the community has to determine because otherwise we're gonna be left behind. We're letting those without the substance control it. And frankly, they just want to keep the old.
SPEAKER_01:Right. It it benefits them to maintain the old power structure.
SPEAKER_00:Indeed.
SPEAKER_01:Which we've talked about a lot. So let's talk about how the rebuild is going, because I think that people are really curious about this. For anyone who's curious, 735 permits have been issued. 520 unique parcels have permits. So that's interesting because that means multiple permits on one parcel. So effectively, 520 rebuilds are in process with permits, but who is actually building? There are 334 active new builds ongoing that have act that are to a point where they are requesting inspection. So, you know, depending how you want to look at it, it's that 334 to 520 number of thousands. Thousands. I know we keep hearing that like Malibu's in the shit, but just their 11 permits issued. But if you run the numbers of how 520 uh permits are even at 735, or no, let's say 520 because it's unique parcels. So if you look at that 520 number comparative to the number of structures lost here, and that 11 number in Malibu compared to number of structures lost in Malibu, the percentages are about the same. It's two to three percent. That's where we're at, folks.
SPEAKER_00:Well, but again, how many have applied? And I'm gonna, I'm not trying, I'm just playing devil's head. Yeah, no, of course.
SPEAKER_01:I don't I think that's irrelevant though. It's because the point is that we had 9300. This is where we're at.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. We all know this is they're gonna have to scale up. And you know, the question is is how quickly are they going to get there? Or is there something else that's gonna happen? And I think the next six months will be very telling in that respect.
SPEAKER_01:I I agree. And actually, I need to give credit where it is due. We are actually up from our 2% number to 5.7%. So to be fair, we have seen an improvement. But you know, that's um in 10 months.
SPEAKER_00:We've gone from 1% to uh, you know, actually give a little credit.
SPEAKER_01:You know, I like to be factual.
SPEAKER_00:I know, I'm deep.
SPEAKER_01:And especially for myself. And when I make mistakes, I like to be really clear that I fucked up and correct.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um, I do it all the time.
SPEAKER_01:Me too. Amen. It's the only way to learn and get better. But um and anyhow, that's where we're at. That's that's where we're at in the rebuild. And for anyone who's curious about this info, you can follow it. I actually had Public Works uh confirm for me this morning directly that they update this multiple times a day. So that dashboard is accurate. And the dashboard um is the permitting progress dashboard at the LA County Recovers website. Anyone who would like to look at that can find it at recovery.lacounty.gov. That's again, it's recovery.lacounty.gov. And you can um keep tabs yourself. There are a number of graphs and infographics um to kind of see um where things are at. It's actually it's a really well done site. I will again credit where credit is due. Um, I think this is one of the things the county has done that um is much better than it than it than past. Have you seen this, Steve?
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. You said it to me. Yep, it looks great. I mean, you can see that there of new residential, 465 or new single-family residences, zero for uh multifamily, 114 are for accessory dwelling units. So that's how you get that individual parcel number or unique parcel that I was talking about, because it'd be one permit for the primary structure and one permit for the ADU. Um, you have separate of that, 139 accessory structures, 40 that are repair only, four that are miscellaneous, zero currently for non-residential. Um there's uh a lot going on that you can follow here, and it's really interesting to see the data um like this, laid out like this. Um and they show here also 6,571 damage parcels, 7,417 um damage destroyed units. That's units. So those are of our multifamilies. And that really I I think that seeing those numbers are really helpful because then you start to really understand what was lost here. You know, this is beyond nine, this is again more than 20,000 displaced. This is how we get there. This is the numbers, the numbers are staggering. Um and I think, you know, for me at least, it just reiterates uh what I've been saying for some time is that you know, the reality is many of our neighbors are not going to come back. Even those who have been on the fence or who have said that they have intent to return or they plan to return, you know, ultimately are not going to have the resources to do so because it is so challenging, time-consuming, and expensive to rebuild, uh, which people are discovering right now. I I had a big post in our group that blew up with a lot of traction was someone talking about the fact that they wanted to break down what their rebuild looked like and what it had cost them before they even got to a permit in paying inspection fees, fire fees, passing in unified school district fees, and and doing all this. They were like, before we, and then of course you have architectural fees, engineering, your soil reports, all the work you had to do to get there, including bringing in in some cases having to bring soil back in and do compaction because of what was excavated because of all the contamination and and fire debris. Um, it is a lot. It's so significant, both the time and the money, just to even get to where you can even consider the actual physical rebuild.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and I'm hearing people are, you know, the the the process is changing in flight to correct. So, you know, you may get an initial permit and then they're changing the permit requirements on you. I mean, we we we hear all kinds of stories, and I think we're gonna hear all kinds of stories. And I mean I don't envy anybody having to manage this. It's it's going to be tremendous.
SPEAKER_01:It is tremendous, and um good luck. I mean, I again I think it goes back to what we've been saying across multiple episodes, but it very specifically in this one that this is where the rubber meets the road.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:This is it. Um, and I think that's gonna be increasingly as we talk about like what's gonna happen in year two, what's gonna happen from January 26 to January 27th. I think we're gonna see a lot of focus on people having to make hard decisions about whether or not they're gonna take the shitty SCE offer because that's the best case scenario for them. Um, or if they have it in them and have the ability and the time to continue to push through litigation to get to larger, a larger number. But um, you know, a lot of folks, including myself, are waiting on and dependent upon that settlement money to rebuild. So, you know, we we are all in kind of this holding pattern to see what's gonna happen. So I think we're gonna see um more rebuilds coming up, more permits issued. But I also think we're going to see it become more and more apparent the degree to which things are kind of stagnating, that there that a lot of lots just sitting around. And we've also talked about too, the number of lots that are gonna sit around deliberately outside of developers buying and holding, like our good friend Edwin Castro, who everyone wants to paint as some sort of community hero when the guy's literally done nothing for Altadina and has been very clear that what he's doing is not philanthropy. The 15 lots that he spent$10 million on, or was it 10 lots and 15 million? Um, my dyslexia is getting me. Was it 10 lots and 15 million? Anyhow, it sounds like I think it was, but those lots, I think it may have been the other way around. The lots that he purchased, he plans to sit on for 10 years empty and not develop them for a decade because he thinks it'll take a decade for the community to come back and for him to actually realize, you know, a positive return on that investment. Um, on the flip of that, you um also have all of these people who, again, are, you know, stuck because they don't know what to do. And then uh you also have an entire group of people, I think we've talked about this before, who plan to keep their properties, to keep them in the family, but who do not have intent to rebuild. And I am aware of everyone I know, there's at least one person on their street who is doing that. On my street, there's two on my block. So um, you know, I think that's gonna be another reality. We're not even when we get through rebuild, it's seven to ten years when we've done seen a significant rebuild. Um, be it new residents, returning residents, developers. Um, I think it's gonna be a lot more new residents and developers than anyone realizes.
SPEAKER_00:No, I don't think anybody's questioning that.
SPEAKER_01:Uh people are. People honestly naively believe that the majority of Al Tedina is coming back. It's not. Unfortunately, that data just doesn't.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and here's the thing with the vacant lots, you know, at some point the county can use eminent domain and just take them over.
SPEAKER_01:I know. That's the other well, not the ones that are owned and actively to trust, though. They can force them to keep them clean and tight.
SPEAKER_00:They have to, yeah, they're gonna have to do something with the lot.
SPEAKER_01:They can't just But we're that's what we're gonna be living with, you know. Yeah, it's nothing will ever be the same. And while we're talking about, you know, the rebuild, um, there's also been a lot of frustration that those the buildings that are going up, you know, how large they are in proportion to their lots, the fact that they are right up against easements and against, you know, property lines and you know, um, a lot of that is SB9. And, you know, I've had a couple of conversations directly with the county about S B9, and bluntly, it's a lot of finger pointing at the state that, like, well, this is how Newsom wrote it, and we can't do anything about it. And the Palisades can have it, you know, their way where they're not having any application of SB9 because all of the Palisades is considered a high fire hazard and all of Altadena is not, and therefore we can go ahead and do this. When in reality, if the county wanted to suspend this, the county could suspend this, but the county doesn't want to suspend this because they want densification because it increases the tax base.
SPEAKER_00:Look, we all know what this is all about.
SPEAKER_01:So money.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, which brings us to the next piece. All right. So one of the things that I got, I was in DC last week and met with a couple of the electeds from California. And one of the things that was talked about was the CDBG, the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief Money. Now, for those of you that don't know what that means, and then you just heard an acronym and you're rolling your eyes, that's the federal money that everybody's been waiting on. That's been the that's the big kahuna, the 40 billion that the governor asked for, that our philanthropic communities and um organizations have been waiting around. And everybody's been lined up. That was what A S AB 797 was designed to supplement because we had a feeling it wasn't going to be gumming anytime soon. And if it did, it would be at a fraction of what was expected. So what happened is in August and September, there was some action. So the lobbying that was being done actually potentially could have yielded a result. And what it was was there's a housing bill that's being started up in the Senate, and this housing bill is gonna permanently authorize the CDBG DR program. And what that means is that that program will no longer be a supplemental program every year that has to be, you know, that if there's a disaster, then they have to pass a bill. It would already be in existence. And there would be a budget associated with it. For those of you going, wait a minute, this sounds like FEMA, you're right. It does, and it kind of is a problem because we all see how this administration is treating FEMA. However, the Congress has decided they want to do this permanent authorization. So they put it onto a bill that is going to go, which is the National Defense Authorization Act, and that is a bill that always passes every year. So the idea being the Senate side has this provision in it, the House side does not. There's still a reconciliation that has to happen between the two sides. So it's not a given that this is actually going to make it through in the final bill. Also, what this means is that the funding that would go to actually auth, you know, into this authorization, the money that would be appropriated from Congress is not a given, nor is there any number that's associated with it. So we don't even know how much it would be. And it would be divisible by 50 different states. Each state would get a certain amount. It wouldn't be just California or Florida or Louisiana or the Carolinas. It would be each state would be able to get their share, sort of like FEMA. So what all this means is that we have had a lot of opposition to bringing in new solutions to our fire response because uh the superstructure in LA and in California has been united behind CDBGDR. This is the money they wanted to get their hands on from the start. Now that there's a potential that this bill might actually get through and then have to still be funded, it might slow down any alternate solutions to bring in new money. So everybody will stay united behind the front of CDBG, CDBG DR money. So for those of you that think this is a good thing, this is a delay. Yeah we don't know how much money this is gonna be, nor do we know if it's gonna be anywhere near what we need to be able to fix our problem.
SPEAKER_01:And and to remind people, our problem is tens of billions of dollars.
SPEAKER_00:There's a reason why the governor asked for 40 billion. Tax increment financing that SB 782 will do does not come close to being able to meet this need. Philanthropy does not have the money to be able to meet the needs of what we're trying to do. Do here and also continue to fund the philanthropic needs of the broader community. Our state doesn't have the money. This will not get us where we need to go. All it does is it murks up the water even further. And so that was the big concern that I had when I heard this, because right now our electeds in Washington and everybody else was hoping that we would be able to get a 797 through so that they weren't totally dependent on CDBGDR reauthorization and all the other things that go with it. So for those of you that just rolled your eyes, understand this does two things. It slows down the process and it doesn't get us the money. It's another nothing murder.
SPEAKER_01:And for context, this is what all of our local orgs have lined up behind because they were sold, in my opinion, a false bill of goods. And you know, those are gonna have to be made good on.
SPEAKER_00:So having lost, so this is a situation that I think over the next six to twelve months we're gonna see. I mean, the NDAA, now that the Congress has opened up and we now have a government again functioning or will have it in the next week, the NDAA should move and they will be in conference. So whether this gets attached to it or not, we'll see. Um but the key thing too is from other states I've been hearing that they're rolling their eyes at this as well. This is not a panacea in any way, shape, or form. So for those that are being told that, my answer to you is I'd start asking more questions. The reality is right now within the Democratic Party, there's a lot of optimism going into 2026. And the hope is that if they can wait long enough, they might be able to turn the House and maybe the Senate and maybe get money to California. And that won't be till 27 at the earliest, assuming they could do that and assuming the president allows it.
SPEAKER_01:Right. And to think that that is not going to delay a rebuild of our community is more magical thinking.
SPEAKER_00:The point really comes back to we had the solution to raise the money at scale, yep, and we got vetoed.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:And the reason you could see there are alternate plans going on. And I'm not saying this the two are directly correlated. I'm just saying that we are we are limited in our options because a choice is being made by our electeds. And that was the big takeaway from Washington that I saw. I mean, among the fact the government's now open.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and we will not I will spare you all uh Steve and I arguing on air and our about our different perspectives on that, because I'm very much in the why did the current why did our establishment Democrats cave at this point when what they caved on, they could have caved on 40 days ago prior to this impact on the communities. If you're just gonna cave. If you're gonna hold a line and make a point, then hold it and let us all sacrifice for something that that is a greater good. But if you're just gonna cave, what was even the point? But Steve has a very different perspective.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I do.
SPEAKER_01:Do you want to share with the class?
SPEAKER_00:I I, you know, look, I think that it was a stupid fight from the start. I think that um healthcare is a horrible issue to fight on. Those of you that read my Substack know I wrote about this yesterday. But I also think that, you know, the point was made that they had to, they got the longest shutdown ever.
SPEAKER_01:This goes back to why the Republicans had the longest The second longest shutdown under Trump's last presidency.
SPEAKER_00:Correct. And this is and look, they're gonna get another bite at the apple in January when they have to, when this temporary reauthorization goes away. The food stamp question or the SNAP program is addressed because that's fully funded through the end of the year if this bill goes through. So that takes that leverage piece off the table. And honestly, I think that it was time to shut it to get things going. And I think the pragmatism on the Democrat side said the further this went, the worse it gets. A lot of the noise you're hearing, the people that are the critical, the ones that are screaming about the Democrats have caved, are all running for office. Governor Newsom, Roy Cooper in North Carolina, all the candidates running for Senate in many different places.
SPEAKER_01:AOC.
SPEAKER_00:AOC's running for Senate or president. So I mean, these are all people, Rokana, who's potentially running for president.
SPEAKER_01:Bashir.
SPEAKER_00:Bashir's doing what he has to do. Um look, the reality is it it's good politics to make noise. Schumer knew that. That's why he and the eight people that went along with it. Tim Cain was the there was a great piece in Politico this morning about Tim Cain and why he did it. And he was able to get out of the administration and written into the legislation uh language stopping any more reductions in force because uh he represents Virginia, and Virginia has a huge population that is you know government employed. So you know, like most politics, it's not as cut and dry as the media narrative wants it to be.
SPEAKER_01:It never is.
SPEAKER_00:There were eight people that made decisions and probably got eight separate sign-offs that worked for their state, which is what senators should be doing. Um and you know, people are now gonna the the the the situation when they're supposed to have a vote on whatever the uh the um supplemental uh ACA issue is, you know, where there's the uh tax credits are supposed to come up in the next month. And I I I think to to me the takeaway on that side, and I get healthcare is a very complicated subject, in some respects, is also very simple in others. I think that people if I'm the Republicans right now, they gotta come up with a solution. They can't just keep saying no to Obamacare. They can't keep saying no. People healthcare.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, even when Trump Exactly is a critical issue, but I just want to share that. Even when Trump, just remind people, was running, he kept getting asked, you know, because he was like, I'm gonna kill Obamacare, we're getting rid of the ACA, we're getting rid of it. What are you gonna have? And he was asked repeatedly, like, what's the plan? He just kept saying, We have a plan and you'll see it soon. We have a plan, you'll see it soon. We still haven't seen the plan because there's no fucking plan.
SPEAKER_00:Well, the plan, so you know, what's really happening, and and again, I wrote about a little bit about this in my Substack yesterday, is you're seeing a consolidation in healthcare. And, you know, think about here in Los Think about here in Pasadena, right? Cedar Sinai now owns Huntington, USC owns Arcadia and Adverted. Yep. And so what you're really getting is you're getting these super regional organizations or you know, healthcare delivery models. And they're all essentially becoming Kaisers, Kaiser Permanente. The difference is the American system really goes after it from an insurance perspective. And so the question becomes when will say UCLA combine with the other UCs to create a California state insurance policy to utilize their insurance, their their network. That's coming. And when that does, that puts us in a really interesting position to start addressing some of this government-run or government-owned.
SPEAKER_01:Well, we've talked about this a bit in other episodes that you know, the fact that California, you know, per capita has a state budget that is not that far off of the entire country of Canada.
SPEAKER_00:Canada, which has socialized medicine.
SPEAKER_01:It has socialized medicine. It's effective. And um Well, you gotta talk to Canadians. Okay, okay. Arguably it's effective as it as it can be. There's always a improvements that can be made to this.
SPEAKER_00:Always, always.
SPEAKER_01:But you know, my my simple point was that there is, again, there's money. There, there is money for this. It's what we have the desire and political interest in spending it on. And I think to go back to our, you know, to wrap up our conversation about what happened with this shutdown and the narratives around it, I think that you have a very unique perspective because your perspective is that of a political insider, because that is what you are, because it's literally what you do. But on the perception front of how this looks and how effectively all these people who are up for election are gonna spin all of this around um the establishment Democrats caving. And that is the spin, and that is what people are gonna buy into. That is the narrative people are gonna buy into. The Democratic Party has a lot of work to do between now and the midterms because we either have to short it, find a way to shore this up and to unite the base, or we've lost it again.
SPEAKER_00:But this gets back to, and again, the readers of my substack have heard me talk about this ad nauseum. It gets back to substance over form. And right now, yes, you're right, the spin will allow you to make good on the form. And this is where the Democratic Party is failing because and this is why the Republican Party failed. That's why we had the swing in 2024 to 2025 of the voters that are sitting there saying, I'm wanting somebody to actually solve the fucking problem. Right. And this is just like Al Tedino. We just want somebody to solve the problem. But as long as nobody's solving the problem, I'm gonna go to the guy who's not in power because maybe they can figure it out.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly.
SPEAKER_00:And the reason why this is the constant pendulum shift of our Because nobody has the balls to actually go and solve the problem. Yep. And the reality is to solve a problem, you have to make tough decisions.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And you have to piss off powerful people with a lot of money.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you can get through that because money always follows power. Yep. What it is is that you have a consulting class that has these politicals so afraid of making a mistake. Because politics, at the end of the day, if you think about it, you work all your life to be in a position to put yourself into that higher office. And if you do anything that can jeopardize that, that's like you've given up everything that you've made. I mean, there to me, I wonder sometimes why politicians aren't more entrepreneurs. Like the amount of work they do to get the minimal amount of money that they do, and the amount the talent it takes to raise the money and be so disciplined in who you are and to get to where you are, that is such a critical thing. But the problem is that we're at a point now in our our population and the way we're seeing our politics, at least at this particular moment in history, where people want risk takers. People want people to say, We just saw this of Mamdami. But Mundami is just, he's saying noise. He's not bringing the substance.
SPEAKER_01:I know you think that, but I think he's gonna bring substance. He has to have to do that.
SPEAKER_00:Because we're not gonna be able to do free everything and tax the rich, because that's not the answer. The answer is you've got to come up with a way to do this that works for everybody. I mean, again, the example I had with Elon Musk getting a trillion dollar payout from Tesla is ridiculous, too. And you wonder why there's so much resentment. I mean, if the dude took a billion dollars, he'd still have more money he knows what to do with for his entire lifetime. And that'd be$999 billion that we can use to help reinshore our economy or take it and put into a nonprofit. I mean, you'd almost double the amount of assets existing in the philanthropic community. Like, if you don't trust government to do it right, then do it yourself. But don't sit there and just hoard it just so you have the ego of saying I'm the first trillionaire. Who gives a shit? And that's why people are getting pissed off.
SPEAKER_01:It's the monkey thing. If one monkey hoards all the bananas and other monkeys are starving while one monkey hoards the bananas, you'd say, What the fuck is wrong with that monkey? But this is why not give the monkey more bananas.
SPEAKER_00:But this is why our our our our society, this is this is what it comes down to. And this, I mean, when we talk about affordability, it's not affordability. It's wealth. When people can't buy a home, homes are where people get the majority of their wealth from. That's what matters. We don't use the word wealth because affordability sounds easier. But no, it's about giving people hope because wealth equals hope. And if you're just giving people money, you're not creating wealth. I've watched enough of this.
SPEAKER_01:So should we talk about the next topic?
SPEAKER_00:You got me on my top. You got me all wound up.
SPEAKER_01:I know. Steve's really wound up. I had to, I had to I had to w wind him up with uh wind it up. Um not because I want him to wind it up, but you know, we could talk for hours about this. Um and frankly, how broken our system is. Not on every level. It's not that it's broken enough, but it can be. All it takes is leadership. Correct. And that's the vacuum. We are lacking meaningful leadership.
SPEAKER_00:And I don't buy the excuse the system is broken. It's not broken.
SPEAKER_01:We've allowed we We've allowed it to be this. We've allowed those in power to behave this way and to get away with this shit over and over and over. And I can only hope that the buck actually stops here, at least for us in Altadena, because it's enough. Like they burned the they let the entire town burn. Now what? What uh uh how much worse can it get? I mean, I I keep saying it's like this time he didn't just hit you, he hit you, locked you in the house, and set it on fire. And you know, uh, have you had enough yet? I know I've had enough.
SPEAKER_00:Now it's her turn to get worked up.
SPEAKER_01:I do, I get really worked up about this. I get really worked up about county letting us burn for days. But this is why it's so important that and you know, and our neighbors dying. And I mean, this is gets into this next topic. It's come up with a couple of journalists reaching out this week asking me, hey, can you speak to you know, conversations that are happening in your group around deaths and and all these people who've passed? And you know, what we look at for the official number, right? We keep seeing the number of 19 deaths in the related to the Eaton fire. Um, and you know, uh nearly all the deaths to related to all these fires occurred in Altadena. All but one of those deaths was in West Altadena, Altadina west of Lake, which is where I happen to live or did live. And um, you know, but what we're not talking about when those numbers is that, you know, but what we do talk about in our community groups, I talk about this with other community leaders, we talk about it within our community every day as to how many other people have actually died related to the fire. So you have all the related deaths, and you know, like for example, a woman, and I'm gonna spare some names because I don't know how families feel about things, but uh a woman in our community um who was very active in the group for a long time and very active in the community for a long time. She was an artist, amongst other things. She lived alone in her home. She was evacuated, like you know, most of us were. Well, she didn't get an evacuation warning, but she um, with the help of a neighbor, got out of her home and was taken to the um evacuation center at the Pasadena Convention Center. She managed to, and she's a single woman, her and her dog. She's a longtime single woman who was doing just fine in her home. She's not that old. I would guess that she was in her late 60s, maybe 70. She um, and in good health, but she managed to contract COVID while at the Pasadena Convention Center. She was then transferred to a care facility after from hospital to care facility because she's a single person and had complications, developed pneumonia in that care center and died. All right. That is 100% a death related to the fire that will never be counted in that total. And there are dozens of those that we have seen happen this year. Um, I saw another one of our community leaders talking about the two funerals they attended um this weekend. I was personally at a service from my friend's grandmother, who has been on a steady decline since she had to be um evacuated out of the um care home on Allen. What was that care facility that went up in flames that we did?
SPEAKER_00:Something palms.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, um, that we saw going up. That's where her grand grandmother was. And um, you know, again, after being moved and moved and moved, her health rapidly declined and she died um a couple weeks ago and we were having her service. We're also not taking into account all the suicides. Um, we know um, I know again, I'm gonna spare names for people because I think that those fan those people and those families deserve that respect. But we have had multiple suicides in our community. Um, one recently, a woman shot herself on her lot. Those things are not being spoken about. They're not being accounted uh for. They are not going into the total death count. But if we were to take all of those numbers, we are talking about a hundred plus Altadinans who have been murdered by the people who started this fire, the people who allowed the fire to continue to burn, um, and to destroy our community. And again, there there has to be some, there will never be the reckoning that there should be for that. But there has to be some form of accountability and some change that is meaningful enough that we know that this is not just gonna happen again. Not to us here in Altadina, but to the next community, because it's it was us and next it's you. And um, without change, you know, again, what's the definition of insanity? Just continue to do the same thing and expect a different result. There will not be a district, a different result. The trend is your friend, and the trend here is not good. It it we're going to have so many deaths by the time we get to the end of this. I don't even getting into people's pets. So um, I hate to end on kind of a really fucking depressing note, but that's that's kind of where it is. I and I just wanted to bring that home. And I'm glad that a couple journalists are trying to cover this, um, even though it's challenging because they don't have data points and they won't. You know, they were like, where can we get this as a data point? You can't and you won't. I mean, you may see it turn up if there's when the numbers are significant enough in a few years as excess deaths, the way we did with uh with COVID, right? During the pandemic. But um, you know, otherwise, these folks are never going to be accounted for in that death count, and they absolutely should. And I hope that um people continue to talk about that and shed light on it because that is our reality.
SPEAKER_00:We want to remember all those who have been affected by this.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And, you know, you just we're coming up on a year, and that's exactly.
SPEAKER_01:And I think, you know, a lot of folks are like, oh, haven't you moved on? You're aren't you rebuilding? Your life is great. Or uh the ones that have been really entertaining are all the people who are hearing uh from family members and friends they haven't heard from in years out of the woodwork, like, oh, congrats on your you know, two million dollar windfall, because they've read something that was absolutely not real about the uh SCE offer and think that people are miraculously getting all this money. No, you're not. Even if SCE's calculation put you at a million dollar plus settlement, by the time they do subrogation and then you factor taxes and everything else, it's net zero. Or worse, it's it's less than zero. In my case, it's less than zero. So, you know, it ain't good, folks. Um, but what is good is the small business in our community. So let us end on a happy note. Um, we were talking about in our group about Betsy again, um Tyler Wells' spot that was formerly Bernie on Mariposa that's reopened, you know, in the midst of all this destruction. And the fact that like this is someone who is doing like, unlike Edwin Castro, he is this is someone who is for real doing something for the community. That was said in our group, and I was like, yes, thank you. I completely agree with that.
SPEAKER_00:How packed it is there?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, of course he's packed because people want to support it. It's it's great food. Everything's off the woodfire grill. We talked about the fact that, like, would this be hard? You know, a lot of people, including myself, were saying, hey, expected it to be triggering, but actually it's not, because it's so comforting to be back in a space in Altadina where when you're inside that restaurant and it's full of people from the community and you run in inevitably to people you know every time you're there. Every time. Every time. Um, it it's restorative, right? To be in that space. It is for me. I know I say every time I I go home and uh I call Altadina home. I go home and you know, I have to do some business on my lot. I follow that up by going and supporting some local business. Like I go to local coffee, I go spend a few dollars at a local shop, I'll have lunch at one of our local spots that's open.
SPEAKER_00:You'll honk at joggers on the middle of the road.
SPEAKER_01:I do. I saw uh scaring them. I was on the way to the press conference on Friday and I saw Steve jogging because Steve is one of our residents holding it down, and I honked at him, and I think I scared the shit out of him.
SPEAKER_00:No, I knew I saw the I saw the license plate. I saw the fuck Elon.
SPEAKER_01:So he knew it was me. Um, but anyhow, I bring up Betsy again because I think it's important to talk about those who always those who have remained in the community who continue to invest in the community despite everything. And Tyler's a really great example of that because not only is he running Betsy and it's doing great and it's packed and it's and it's it gives community it's a it's a stake pole right in the ground of for rebuilding. He is also working on um his second spot. He was working on a pre-fire, a second all-day spot that would be two doors down, right there, also in Mariposa Junction. And um that is um on track. He is actively working on that and working on getting it reopened. And um, you know, I think that is worth celebrating and talking about um on that same vein. Um uh Mariposa Junction is actually getting ready to reopen. For those who don't know, it's it that is the historic um block owned by Joey Galloway on Mariposa, the beautiful you know, brick buildings that span two uh two, it's really a full city block. Um, but that whole area is um trying to come back. Half the building burned, half of it didn't, but was remediated. On Saturday, November 15th, from 10 to 2. Um, Mariposa Junction is uh hosting a big um grand reopening celebration for the half of the block that did stay open, which is you know, um Betsy, obviously, but also Sydeca, um, the um Carciofi design, which is a really great little stationary card shop. Um, Miss Dragon, print and copy. Yep. Gotta love Miss Dragon. I know you were just there.
SPEAKER_00:We were just there yesterday.
SPEAKER_01:So, you know, that it's great to see these kind of things happening and to know that, you know, one way or another, the community is moving forward, even if it's there are fewer of us. Um everyone's doing what they can. Um, I'm also gonna shout out two more businesses quickly. Altina Watch Company, um, just known as Altina Watchco. Such an awesome jewelry repair. Um, has been recommended in our group for years. The owner shound is great. They have reopened. Um, I think I may mention them before, but I'll mention them again. Someone was asking for like where to get something repaired and was like, Altina Watchco. So reminder that they're open and a reminder, too, that both of our local veterinarians are back in business, both um Dr. Vanderhoof and Dr. Dawson at Vanderhoof Veterinary, and also Dr. Sahi at Altina Pet, which is also on lake. All of these businesses are on lake um north of New York Drive. So um and south of Al of Altadena. So yeah, Altina Pet, Vanderhoof Vet, and Mariposa Junction. More of our local businesses holding it down.
SPEAKER_00:All right.
SPEAKER_01:That's it for today.
SPEAKER_00:All right, thank you, Mayor Dawson.
SPEAKER_01:You're welcome. So, next up um will be episode 17, which we will record next week.
SPEAKER_00:Can you believe we've gotten this far?
SPEAKER_01:I can believe we've gotten this far. Steve's always like, are we gonna have anything to talk about? And then we our 30 minutes episodes run for an hour and we're like, oh shit, we do still have to do that.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, I got a lot to talk about. It's just, you know, keeping it Altadena. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:There is a lot to talk about, and there will continue to be. So stay tuned. Until then, you can find us online, beautiful Altadina on Substack, on Instagram. Um, our locals only Facebook groups um also exist and our subgroups. Um, and we're also kind of slowly bringing back book club and women's groups and cooking and all that. So if you're local or you were local in January and just want to reconnect with your Altadena people, come find us. Even if you hate Facebook, it's the one reason to be on there. It's the one reason I'm on Facebook. Um, we'll make it worth your while. And if you have any commentary, questions, concerns, things you want us to talk about, um you can always hit us up by email as a reminder, beautiful Altadina O G at gmail.com.
SPEAKER_00:And of course, you can find Steve at the Alta Policy Wonk on Substack. Steve, don't sound so excited about your I mean, after you, I'm like, I don't think there's any room left for me.
SPEAKER_01:There's so much room for you because Steve is like the most prolific writer I think I've ever encountered. Steve posts at least once a day. I say at least because sometimes when there's things to talk about, Steve will post two or three times a day. Meanwhile, I'm over here trying to like get my head around one giant post. True. It's true. Well, on that cheery note, uh, we'll see you next time.
SPEAKER_00:All right.
SPEAKER_01:Find us on one of those 50 platforms.
SPEAKER_00:And uh again, to all those veterans out there, thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Thank you for your service. Happy Vets Day.
SPEAKER_00:All right, bye now.