After the Ashes: A Beautiful Altadena Podcast

Episode 17: The Stories They’re Writing—And the Ones We’re Living

• Shawna Dawson Beer

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As the one-year anniversary approaches, the journalists are circling—and so are the headlines. In this episode of After the Ashes, we sift through the news storm hitting Altadena: FEMA’s Acting Administrator steps out (and what that really signals for future disasters), SCE skipping out on a Black community town hall while KBLA and local reporters press for answers, Disney’s sudden Charles White Park announcement that wasn't welcomed by all, and the lingering question from another newsroom—why wasn’t Altadena’s gas shut off when the Palisades was? As Shawna says, there’s so much fuckery afoot it’s hard to keep up, but we try.

We dig into development realities coming into sharp focus: the rise of mini-mansions and two-story ADUs, revisiting SB9 and promises about protecting community character, and asking whether we’ve lost the war or just this battle. And a petition concerning the uptick in foreclosures that's circulating.

And this week’s small business spotlight shines on Two Dragons Martial Arts, where Sipoo’s battle to buy the studio’s land (featured in multiple media stories) shows what it looks like when local entrepreneurs take on developers and refuse to be pushed out.

It’s Episode 17 and we're keeping it raw and real, and rooted in community. Let’s get into it.

Note: This episode was originally published the week of November 18 ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday and due to a technical issue was re-published on December 2. 

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome back to After the Ashes. This is episode 17: The Stories They're Writing and The Ones We're Living. I'm your co-host, Steve, and I'm here with Shauna.

SPEAKER_02:

Hello.

SPEAKER_00:

And uh yeah, we got quite a bit to talk about today.

SPEAKER_02:

We do have a lot to talk about. Uh, this is episode 17 uh that we have titled The Stories They're Writing and The Ones We're Living, which felt apt. Um, I think we discussed a couple episodes ago that there's enough happening in the media at a constant that, you know, kind of having a top-line look at what's in the news um made sense for our for our episodes to kind of review for folks what's going on because no one, even ourselves, can keep up with all of the headlines. Or as I've said multiple times this week, I cannot keep up with all of the fuckery afoot.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I'm not sure if you're just to write about it, but you know, I get told it's too much.

SPEAKER_02:

Don't write, just not so much.

SPEAKER_00:

So you know what the funny thing is, you write too much, and then people say you write too much, and then you don't write enough, and everyone's like, Well, you didn't write enough. And it's like, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_02:

You can't, we can't please them all. We can't, we can't.

SPEAKER_00:

No.

SPEAKER_02:

But I think, you know, today there's so much happening, there's so much news has broken um that uh it's almost, you know, we could dedicate an entire episode to just discussing some of the things that's what's happening in the headline. So that's some of what we're gonna talk about this morning. Um I wanted to ask you about this, Steve. Did you read the story that hit everywhere yesterday? And um, when I say yesterday, everyone should know we're recording this on um November 18th. All right, this is our record date. It's Tuesday, November 18th. So I'm talking about a news story that hit yesterday on Monday, and that was about the FEMA's um acting admin being out. Well, and everything going through Christy Gnome, and you know what, you know, how what that I know.

SPEAKER_00:

I I should show you the uh the the coaster they have at off the record in DC of her. It's hilarious. It definitely shows the Botox in the lips. Wait, Botox in the lips? Yeah, like just it's just lip fillers in botox. Oh my gosh. Yes, whatever. I I don't know. I'm a guy that's that that that world doesn't, you know, register for me. But okay, so FEMA's FEMA's been on the decline anyway. I mean, this administration's looking to shut it down. So to lose the acting administrator doesn't really surprise me. And Christy Noam continuing to consolidate doesn't surprise me either. Nothing about that surprises me.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't think anything about this administration surprises anybody at this point.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, yesterday was FEMA, today's Department of Ed. Yep.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, so I mean the DOE's been on the chopping block for some time too. They want to privatize it all.

SPEAKER_00:

But I mean, no, no, well, education, they want to push to the states and let the states have control over it. So, I mean, that was the last agency created in Washington. So, you know.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't want to get too deep into national politics. You don't want to argue with me today, Steve?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. You'd love to argue with me. I know, I know.

SPEAKER_02:

I will I'll share a little a little tidbit for those who are newer listeners and have not already gleaned this. Um, Steve and I don't agree on everything. In fact, there's uh quite a bit we do we have opposite uh beliefs systems around. However, we often find our way to the middle.

SPEAKER_00:

It's amazing how that happens if you just have conversation and dialogue.

SPEAKER_02:

It is amazing how that, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00:

Shocking.

SPEAKER_02:

We're just actually open to other viewpoints and listen and uh analyze and reassess.

SPEAKER_00:

We're on new media, we're not allowed to do this. We're supposed to be like hate radio over.

SPEAKER_02:

We're supposed to be edgy.

SPEAKER_00:

This is boring to people. They don't want to hear this.

SPEAKER_02:

I hear you on, you know, it's it's it's kind of non-news because we knew that they're trying to kill this as it is. But you know, while it's non-news, it does impact disaster victims, right? I mean, it does. Like it's no different than what's happening, you know, right now with you know, um everyone at the IRS being cut, you know, and especially as all of us tax, you know, I'm sorry, all of us fire survivors who now have complicated tax scenarios and need more, you know, support um from the IRS than ever, it doesn't exist. My my accountant was trying to get a hold of someone at the IRS. It's like it's like an impossible feat.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. So I I think the thing about FEMA, what this administration is doing, okay, back up. I'm gonna say words that are probably gonna be offensive to few, a few of us out there, but this administration's trying to rewrite the rules of disaster relief. And while they're using a sledgehammer to do this, which, you know, like most things they're doing, it's just it's not being handled properly. The the intent behind this is that they want to see more of the disaster response going down to the states and having state, you know, i yes, there has to be some administration, but the fact is that FEMA has kind of encroached out of its original intent and become more of the go-to. So it's a default for the state. You know, it's like I have kids, and when you know they start fighting and they come directly to me instead of trying to resolve it themselves. I think that's I don't think FEMA's dead. I think there's certainly gonna be a change. I just don't know what that's gonna look like. And you know, I'm not gonna suspect there's a grand plan with these guys because Lord knows what's happening in there. I I don't I and it changes daily. I mean and here's the other thing is who knows what all this means for this administration, but things are changing there fast. That election and on November 4th really put them on the back of heels, and they've already they're moving toward that lame duck. It was always a matter of when were they gonna be able to hold out till 2026. But you're already seeing Republicans bulk balk at this. So what was that?

SPEAKER_02:

I apologize. I was cueing up something that I wanted to reference in our next comment, and uh Okay, so I guess I got caught.

SPEAKER_00:

So she got bored, so I'm gonna stop with that.

SPEAKER_02:

I did not get I did not actually get bored for the record. I did not get bored, but also for the record, I'm usually like I'm very on the fly, and my brain works a lot faster than my mouth or my thing moves or my fingers type, as shocking as that is. So um it takes me sometimes I'm like back and forth finding other thoughts and pulling threads together, like while we're actually doing our recording. Yeah, so there you go. But um so I since since I bored you to death on the You didn't bore me to death on Fima, but I think the context is important, but again, I think you know it sets up the conversation for as we keep discussing what happens for the next disaster.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, this is where states are, but this is where the state has to start stepping up and with what money? Whoop.

SPEAKER_02:

Right, here we go again, but with my money. But hold on, hold on.

SPEAKER_00:

Or, you know, what's interesting is I proposed this a little bit in my, I was playing with it a little bit in my Substack. I think it was yesterday or today. Maybe it was today, I haven't published it yet. But the idea that maybe this is where I don't want to say privatization, but I mean we gotta introduce a different dynamic here. Oh, it was in probably one of the storylines I was thinking about as we're coming up on the year um timeline. And I mean, I guess that's probably a good transition to one of the other topics that we're gonna talk about, is you know, the definition of insanity being the same, doing the same thing over and over again. Yeah, and expecting a different result. And we've been talking about and it's been very clear that the county and the state have had deficiencies in their response to the fire. And so the question becomes like, uh is there a different way to do this? And what does that look like? And you know, instead of relying on the feds, I think maybe there's a different approach that we could look at in maybe not even relying on the county or the city or the state. I mean, maybe we can move faster if we were catalyzing private approaches, and not necessarily a public-private partnership, but you know, where philanthropy and other investors and well, which is how it works now, which is a setup as well for what's happening.

SPEAKER_02:

But it's also right now in our parks.

SPEAKER_00:

But there's no accountability. Correct. And so the the the keys that's missing there is transparency. And I think that that's the piece, because transparency brings trust. And I think that that's the piece that's missing. But I think what we're seeing and hearing is that there's a creak on the government side, and you know, maybe removing FEMA from this equation while blunt and insensitive and stupid on one level opens the door for other options on another level.

SPEAKER_02:

And I don't disagree with you. However, in the current construct, no, I'm not right. What do people do now? Like if if if if if a mastering towns disaster hits tomorrow, yeah. If this happened here in one of our neighboring towns, even in California, where we have, you know, uh arguably significant resources, we are not prepared as a state to handle that without the injection of federal funds. That's evident in everything we've been talking about across the last year.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't think this is a question of the FEMA money going away. I think it's a question of how it's dispersed. Okay. And I think that what they're saying is instead of it being centrally located, it becomes more like a grant and let the state determine how they want to spend the money as opposed to the federal government determining it.

SPEAKER_02:

Which is a that actually is a fair and reasonable path forward.

SPEAKER_00:

Which I think that's but I think the federal government's also saying it's not all federal money. Like the state has to also step up and commit resources and catalyzing. Do things like, I don't know, a bill that probably could have unlocked a ton of money, I know, but then turns it down because tomorrow this could happen and that could have been catalyzed instantaneously. Instead, now we're still back at square one. That's what we're not doing is reading the room. But I think the federal government is continuing to push forward. The same thing with the C D C D BG money and reauthorizing it. We're gonna be in the same boat. If they're cutting FEMA, do you really think we're gonna get CDBG DR money? Like I I I I'm not sure where people's minds are in all this. But again, there's smarter people than I out there, maybe that are looking at this and understand things in a different context than I do. But to me, this is not a good sign for those that are expecting more federal participation as opposed to less.

SPEAKER_02:

I think it's not about the participation, but about the money. Because, right? We we just know like where I become.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, where's the supplemental money coming? If they're cutting the front end, they're definitely gonna cut the back end.

SPEAKER_02:

It's the ongoing theme of money. Where is it? Where is it coming from? They're all gonna talk about it. There's a tremendous number of sources. So, I mean, that that was one of the top stories, another top story, a little a lot closer to home, um, is one that has been discussed um the last few days. So if you were in in some circles, there was a um a black town hall hosted by a number of orgs and um a radio station, KBLA, um uh show uh show hosted by uh a gentleman named Tavis Smiley. And, you know, I was seeing via some of my friends and contacts in the community that um SCE had been uh invited to this town hall. It was a big conversation about the fact that SCE was going to come and speak directly um to the community, specifically the back black community of Altadena, uh, and discuss some of the issues of their offer, right? And how problematic this offer is. Now, I think we could we're not going to digress into a conversation about how this is the same offer. How incredibly problematic this offer is because folks still think this is, you know, like it is not SCE's intent to make anyone whole. It is not SCE's intent to do the right thing per their own admission. I want to hear the PR line. This is so Oh my gosh, I don't have it right in front of me. We it was in the la we talked about it in one of our last two episodes, but the PR line was basically like um we're trying to mitigate our losses. That's it. You're not gonna be able to do it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that was the thing. We're not gonna lose it.

SPEAKER_02:

We are trying to mitigate our loss. Like it's like they're telling it's like someone's telling you, I'm coming to rob you. Uh just PS. When you hear me breaking the glass in the back door, it's because I'm coming to rob you, uh, not bring you gifts. So but anyhow, anyhow, so we I think we know we don't have to discuss too deeply or too much in depth uh the fact that the offer is not great. It may be okay for some people for some reasons. That's between you, your God, and you're a very good lawyer. But for the most part, and for most people, um, it will be pennies on the dollar, and it's not great. But you know, the bottom line is that SCE had been invited to um attend this town hall, and their representatives agreed to attend this town hall. Initially, it was Pedro, SCE's, you know, CEO, you know, their top, their top officer, who was supposed to be there uh speaking. And um, long story short, SCE bailed last minute, and they blamed it on the fact that the there would be plaintiffs' attorneys sharing billing and on the panel stage with SCE, and they couldn't do that. Now, um, we can't get the Epstein files, but we can get the SCE files because these folks are not playing around and they have receipts and they shared all of it. You can find it in our Instagram stories at Beautiful Altadina right now. You can find it on Aldadina Rising's social media, you can find it on Tavis Smiley's page and on their website. It's everywhere. They dropped all of the email comms between them and SCE's multiple representatives. And um, it's very clear what happened. SCE said they were coming, SCE decided they were not coming, and uh for reasons unknown, but we'll we'll jump into that briefly. And then blamed it on again this this plaintiff attorney issue, however, as documented in the emails and reiterated in the emails. They made it clear multiple times when asked. It was abundantly clear. There are no plaintiff attorneys involved, none are on the social media, they shared their social media assets, their promo assets, their logo, they shared everything and were like, hey, there's no attorneys involved at all. This is just SCE. That is not a concern, but that is what SCE is now blaming their the community on and blaming the event organizers for the reason that they didn't show up when in fact that was not it. So, on top of everything, well, look, these guys are busy gaslighting, they're afraid to be have to meet the meet the the community. So the victims that victims that yeah, I mean, uh, we we call ourselves fire survivors because I don't think any of us feel, you know, like we want to be identified as victims, but you know, we are victims. And in the case of many of these families, um, they lost loved ones. They're their families are dead. They are in fact victims. Um now, what I heard to the grapevines um was that the real issue is that our sheriff's department declined to provide them security. So apparently, when they did the round their little open houses at the park and the other community open houses that they did for community feedback on their draft SCE a few months back, a couple or a few weeks, a couple months back, um, the sheriff's department, including our local deputies, were tasked with being on site to be security. They declined to do that again. And it seems that SCE was concerned about the optics of that, um, of having, you know, if they cannot have the sheriff there, which would look, you know, perhaps quite normal, like it's a community event. Of course, of course, the sheriff is there. This is nothing to see here, no big deal. But if they would not do that and they had to bring in their private security, those optics wouldn't be great. Um, and that may in part be what led to them choosing to bail out of something they agreed to previously. Right. Well, now exactly, and that is the perfect way to wrap up this topic. Someone in the community sent me a video of our good friend Pedro, because there was a whole thing of like, where in the world is Pedro? Where is Pedro since he can't make it to the community event that he promised to be at? And it was someone said, Oh, I found Pedro. He's here at Unincorporated coffee with his private security. And it was, in fact, a video of Pedro at Unincorporated Coffee with his private security and his private bodyguard, who evidently were sitting uncomfortably close to a number of people in a pretty threatening way, um, to make it clear that they needed to stay away. The fact that this guy has the balls to go out, if you feel that you need private security and a bodyguard with you to be in our community, get the fuck out. Somebody pull this guy's card, stop him at the border. Pedro, you're not welcome here. Okay, let's just be uh very clear. Unless you are coming to you know deliver information that is critical, you've been invited, someone and you're a guest. Our businesses are for not for you, our community is not for you. That's it. Like you're not welcome in Altadina, buddy. Stay stay at your lovely home in South Pass.

SPEAKER_00:

So he oh I I know.

SPEAKER_02:

There's no words for it. It's so gross. There's no words.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, but I that was uh give him give him the ball, give him a little bit of credit for actually showing up into the town.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean for for what though? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

Why why why exactly? Are you patronizing our establishments to continue to show support for Altadina? I mean, that's the question I'd be asking.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean get your coffee somewhere else, Pedro. Go to Duncan. Maybe they want you.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey, American runs on Duncan. We're not paid to say that, just so you know.

SPEAKER_02:

We're not, we're not, we're not.

SPEAKER_00:

We don't have any any sponsors.

SPEAKER_02:

I just came back from my lovely East Coast road road trip a few a few weeks ago. I can't believe it was already a few weeks ago. And um was reminded coffee there. I know, and I was reminded of like Duncan everywhere. Duncan is everywhere. You could be in the smallest, tiniest, no name, no gas, one gas station town, and there is a Duncan drive-thru.

SPEAKER_00:

Look, we we have that in Canada. It's called Tim Hortons.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, I love it. So another topic in the news this week um has been um foreclosures. You know, for I Steve is looking at me a little uh quizotically because I we have not even discussed this, but um Quisotically? What's the word is that word? Quizzically, no. There's another. We were just having a huge conversation before taping about language and and words that we use and words that we tend to make up and don't even realize that we've made up.

SPEAKER_00:

No, it's a word, it's a word exceedingly idealistic, unrealistic, and impractical.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh no, it's chaotic, sorry. Yes, I know chaotic is yes, okay.

SPEAKER_02:

So I mispronounced the word. I pronounced the word the way I say it in my head, which apparently is incorrect.

SPEAKER_00:

Quizzically.

SPEAKER_02:

But quizzically also works.

SPEAKER_00:

Puzzle questioning, surprised or amused, yes.

SPEAKER_02:

He is all of those things.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

But um another issue that continues to be pervasive in the community is um that of foreclosures.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, a lot of people I thought that they had legislation to address this.

SPEAKER_02:

It's just not enough, Steve. So that's the problem.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, it is. It's um it this is an ongoing concern, unfortunately, for so many. And as usual, why would you know certain communities are impacted more heavily than others?

SPEAKER_00:

But why would a bank want to foreclose on a community that's I I guess they don't give a fuck.

SPEAKER_02:

No, but I mean, Steve, you already know the story. You know that my mortgage lender put me in foreclosure while actively sitting on the entire after having cashed the checks and sitting on the money that was not only the entirety of a payoff of my mortgage, but also about an additional six figures. And they sat on that for months while I fought them, while they destroyed my credit and put me falsely in foreclosure.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I guess I guess it from an investment perspective, it's if you know that you're gonna seize the land at a value that's gonna be the dirt is worth more than what people owe on their mortgages. And I guess too, you have the insurance or the Edison money that will come in so that that'll make that whole. So basically, you're gonna get a single family home and property, and then you can turn it into a multifamily. So it's from an investment perspective.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep. I know.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow, yep, it's it's pretty dark. I mean, and um so which which which mortgage companies are most because I I think a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02:

I haven't gotten into asking people what the species, you know, but I've heard it come across multiple. Like I haven't seen a poll that's getting into the depths of exactly which lenders are the worst lenders, but I've seen it everywhere from the Fannie Mae, Fanny Mac lending.

SPEAKER_00:

Because that's FIJA and so F to the private lenders, federal government. Yep, to the private lenders, but the federal government then sells the house to investors uh in an auction, typically.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I think the point is it's happening. People need further support. Um, when you're looking at a three to five year rebuild timeline to get back into your community, which is the reality for many, if not most, in Altadena, including myself. You know, I was talking to an elected about this. It means that people need more than a year of forbearance. They need forbearance until they can get back in their home because people cannot afford to pay rent somewhere else, which they are because ALE runs out at two years, three years max, and that's if you had enough funds to get you that far. Most do not.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_02:

Right? We we've talked about this before. People are already running out of ALE right now. End of the year is the second round. The first round kind of ran out at the six-month mark, the next round's running out at the 12-month mark. We've already got families and people living in their cars in the community. That is a very real thing that is happening and not being addressed.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_02:

And this is just going to drive further inequity and further drive people out of town.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and here's another thing that I think, and I was talking to an elected about this from a policy perspective. Continuing to layer debt onto properties, I think is another component to this that is, I think from whether it's economic development, community development, or just government, they like to either tax credits or debt. And they think that if they reduce debt, that that's still, you know, debt. But uh it's that's more affordable, but it's really not. I mean, there has to be a third way. We have to figure out again, sorry, we have figured it out, but they're not letting us use the tool where you know we're not burdening already cash I don't want to say cash starved, but cash challenged borrowers with more debt. Right. You know, most people have paid off their mortgages or set their mortgages in a way that, you know, they don't or they have insanely good um interest rates.

SPEAKER_02:

So many people refined during the pandemic and have two to four percent interest rates.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, but they got it down to like$200,000. And then to add a$500,000 SBA loan plus, plus, plus, it's just too much. And you're taking somebody who they can't, that's not their cash flow. Correct. And there's got to be a better way to do this and a different way to do this, you know, for for borrowers. And I think, you know, this is one of the things that I was discussing with this elected, is that I think this is a critical policy question that Washington's gonna have to look at. And I think that there is a way to get there. I think we've discussed potentially a path to do it in how we've looked at affordable housing, particularly on the substack. So I I just think that this is a component of the capital stack that has to start to get into if we're starting to see foreclosures, we can forestall foreclosures, which are gonna just you know ruin our community for no reason, if we can do this right. And I think that tools like SBA with the proper financing mechanisms in place can get us there, but I don't think it's gonna be more debt. And I if you don't have the money to pay the debt, you don't have the money for a tax credit.

SPEAKER_02:

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00:

So there's gonna have to be a third way.

SPEAKER_02:

And yep, this is what people have been saying for so long. It's like, especially if you're a retiree and you have no.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you, governor. We had the tools.

SPEAKER_02:

I know. Uh we can only hope. I mean, I was having this conversation in reference to um our parks, which we're gonna get to in a moment here, but um, you know, we have the tools to finance the rebuild. We don't need to reply rely on selling the entire town like a NASCAR jacket to anyone who wants to throw a patch on it.

SPEAKER_00:

But you know that's kind of tax increment financing.

SPEAKER_02:

That's my point, you know, is that we we had the tools and we chose not to use it. So now we have this ship.

SPEAKER_00:

To do that, then that's what you're gonna be stuck with.

SPEAKER_02:

So I wanna so to wrap up this foreclosure issue, I actually want to read this because I have a feeling most people listen to this podcast, otherwise will never hear it or see it. But um, Heavenly Hughes at My Tribe Rise um is circulating a petition. You can find that on her social media, their social media. Um, but you know, the note that she sent out said, Altadena neighbors, when the winds came and the fires burned, our community of the ground in January, we experienced a disaster on a scale we could have never imagined. Now we are experiencing the second disaster. Families are not getting the financial resources they need to stay on their land in Altadena and rebuild. We are witnessing the historic black community of West Altadena being pushed out. Many of us still paying mortgage payments on houses no longer standing, many of us not having insurance or insurance that isn't paying, some of us even facing foreclosure, many of us still figuring out where the money to rebuild is going to come from or how to hang on in the interim, debating whether we can hold out until we get a settlement from SCE, which could be years away. Um, and then she goes on to talk a little bit about Newsom's tooth AB 238, um, which we of course know about, which um has given some mortgage forbearance with up to a year, but that year is stacked on top of the um original four months. So it's actually only eight months. And the reality that it's not enough, it relies on homeowners to opt in and it excludes elders and displaced residents who, you know, like you said, are have different scenarios or may have had next to no mortgage or um a virtually paid-off mortgage. Um, so you know, with knowing that all of these legal cases against SCE are not going to resolve until 2027, that's the likelihood. We may see some resolution in 26 for the first round, but the majority it's gonna be 27, maybe even dragging into 28. And that is when people, for context again, for anyone listening, the fire happened in January 2025. We're heading into the one year of January 2026. You're looking at two to three years to rebuild a home from plans, permits, construction, well, and then layering on permitting while we may be moving them through.

SPEAKER_00:

We're gonna talk about that too.

SPEAKER_02:

It's not go to permitting is not going great either. So all of this do, and I'm excuse me, sneezing away over here. My allergies have been crazy. But um, you know, uh, base in in an at the end of this, Altadina's residents are in a really tough spot.

SPEAKER_00:

Please hold. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02:

My allergies are wild. Um, and it they shouldn't be with the rain tamping everything down, but they are. So I I apologize, listeners, that you have to hear me running away and sneezing, as not to sneeze sneeze at uh poor Steve's face or anyone else. I was a very CDC-approved sneeze. But um, it's all right. Anyhow, um, the bottom line is again, people in the community have already been forced out. The way that things are going on multiple levels, we're seeing more and more people full forced out. Everyone has a five-year timeline at this point, to get, if not longer, to get back into their homes in the community. A lot can't, even if they have the money, they can't wait, but the majority just don't have the resources. Who has the resources to write out five years while I'm paying a mortgage and rent somewhere else? Like, show me that person. Nobody has this. So, what is being asked in this petition, this stop the foreclosures petition, um, is that um Newsom uh figure out how to freeze all fire-related foreclosures in Altadena. Um, that's simple. You know, if we're not going to say, hey, let's give people mortgage relief until they actually have a home to get back into, then, you know, we at the very least we have to freeze foreclosures. I think it's actually a very minimal ask. So I hope that the governor hears that and heeds that call because um, again, um, what has made our community, our community are the people. And we're losing that at a much more rapid clip than I think anyone wants to acknowledge or is is frankly very aware of.

SPEAKER_00:

It's well, look, they're fro freezing rent, so they might as well just freeze foreclosures too.

SPEAKER_02:

Exactly. Well, are they freezing rent?

SPEAKER_00:

No, but they're they're there's been no problem to do it on the renter side. So let's see what we can do to I mean, and the governor's obviously tacking to the left. This is a very much a left issue. Yeah, particularly coming into the election.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

And with you know, affordability becoming a major issue, having people leave their homes because they can't afford to rebuild, I think is a very definition of affordability issue.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it absolutely is, and um it something has got to give. And what that is, I think is unknown. But it's gotta start with better policy.

SPEAKER_00:

Then you gotta go against the banks and the mortgage companies as well.

SPEAKER_02:

Which no one will do. Well, because we come back full circle to everyone is in bed with everyone because all of their financial and political interests are intertwined, and this is why none of our electeds actually work for us because they are all bought and paid for.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think there's a there's a way to do it. Uh, there's always a third way. I mean, you don't have to skin the cat one way or the other. There's multiple, multiple ways. I just think that we get we we get into this binary dynamic and it doesn't have to be. Um, but nobody's asking me for my opinion, so I'm not gonna give them unless asked.

SPEAKER_02:

You were Steve.

SPEAKER_00:

You're always going to share your opinion.

SPEAKER_02:

That's why it's why you're here.

SPEAKER_00:

Well this one I haven't been asked to solve yet. Okay. Are you gonna solve it for us? I don't know. I have to think about it. Give me like at least a run in an hour. All right. I mean, you know I looked at the body. In our next episode, quizzically.

SPEAKER_02:

In our next episode, uh Steve is going to solve all of our problems. The reality is we actually have been talking about that. That, you know, we talk a lot about all the things that are challenging and plaguing the town, and we solutions have been brought. And, you know, we've there again, there's a great bill on the table. And that is the most frustrating part. And we're still having those conversations around how do we fix this, right? So I think, you know, stay tuned. There will be an episode at some point sooner than later of you know, Steve and I saying, if you know, Steve were king or I were, you know, king, um I would not be queen. I would never be queen. I would also be king.

SPEAKER_00:

Isn't that the most powerful piece on the chessboard?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, that's another I won't go down that rabbit hole. But um anyhow, uh let's move on.

SPEAKER_00:

See, I gotta I I flumux her.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, don't you didn't flummox me. Oh, there we go. And also, don't don't don't fuck with my uh my grammar and vocab this morning, Steve.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm the last person to talk. As every reader knows, I'm the worst.

SPEAKER_02:

Also, you know, this is our our sorry, our Canadian over here. Sorry. Yeah, I like to I shouldn't poke fun at the Canadians, but I've watched too many South Park episodes.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, when married to one.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, I know. It wears off. So let's let's So let's talk about another thing that hit that hit the news cycle yesterday um locally, and that was the big announcement all over the news channels, huge coordinated press effort from Disney to announce you. I know you missed it. I don't know where you were, but um announcing times every day it wasn't. Well, it's gonna be there soon, I'm sure, because it was all over broadcast news. But it was the announcement from Disney that they were poning up five million dollars and enlisting um some imagineers, including some of our local Altadina Imagineers. We have a lot of big Disney.

SPEAKER_00:

Can you explain to me what an Imagineer is, please?

SPEAKER_02:

They're the folks who you know imagine that that's what Disney calls the their planners, right?

SPEAKER_00:

So like the planners that do the theme parks.

SPEAKER_02:

Correct. They're the people who develop theme parks, who develop imagine worlds, generate these incredible worlds and bring them to life. So what they do is incredible. They're incredible people. We just like we have lots of JPL um literal rocket scientists in town, we have a lot of Disney imagineers in town. And a lot of those folks lost their homes too, um, and want to do positive things to rebuild our community, which I think is incredible and should absolutely be leaned into and leveraged wherever possible. I think it's just unfortunate that it got um done in a way that um unfortunately, but not surprisingly, is not sitting well with the community. So this big announcement yesterday about Disney and the park um blindsided many, including our town council, who apparently were not made privy to any of this deal going on. And while, you know, for some, they're like, hey, well, this is great. Why would anyone complain about Disney wanting to come in and build this amazing park and the and leveraging their imagineers and having this incredible space developed for us? It raised a lot of big questions that require some history and context to really unpack. And to even begin to have this discussion, we have to understand that LA County has spent the last few years, literally years, working with the historically black West Altina community where Charles White Park is located on reimagining that park. And it has been years of um community meetings, walkthroughs, development plans, you know, implementation of notes and et cetera, that got them to a place where they finally agreed with the community on what the direction of this park would look like and what how it would be rebuilt with our taxpayer money, with our money. So um what was it? I believe uh 3.3 million.

SPEAKER_00:

You're talking about 3.7 million dollars.

SPEAKER_02:

$3.7 million of our tax money from the county. Well, no, it's not that they're kicking in another five.

SPEAKER_00:

It's directing five. Well, Disney's gonna be a little bit more than a lot.

SPEAKER_02:

But the question that is being asked, there's a lot of questions being asked, is what happened to 3.7? Well, what happened to the three? Where's our tax dollars? What happened to the 3.7, which is as usual, where's our money? And where's our property tax dollars actually going? This is that's always the question. But you know, the issue here for our conversation is also what happened to the kid plans? There were all of these plans that the entire community agreed on. And while it's great that Disney wants to bring in this money, you know, at what cost? Like the community that engaged in this entire lengthy process to redevelop this park was not consulted in any way. No one even knew this was happening. It sounds like County actually asked Disney to keep this announcement under wraps until it was already out there and the deal was done. And the reason why was because, you know, I have no doubt county told Disney that they had community buy-in and they did not have community buy-in. And it's not the first time. This is what happened at Loma Alta Park, where we now have a Dodgers field because they the county took Dodgers' money and gave them naming rights. And this is the NASCAR jacket, you know, comment that actually came from someone in our group who was like, Well, is Altadina a NASCAR jacket? We're just like selling all every inch of space for you to slap a logo on it. Like, what are the naming rights for Disney? And you know, one of the questions I raised was actually uh who's maintaining this thing? Like, this looks incredible, but and that money is gonna buy the development of the park. But we have extreme weather shocker, right? I think we know this. We have extreme weather, we have all manner of, you know, even just their normal elements, destroy park equipment, especially kids' playground equipment. Who's making where's the money to maintain this?

SPEAKER_00:

Who sustains the initial investment?

SPEAKER_02:

What's the real plan? What's gonna happen? And you know, beyond if we're talking about ears or you know, what is that like Altadina already is 30 years behind in infrastructure and maintenance of that infrastructure? All right. We're still fighting to get our lines undergrounded, to get decent water company uh municipalities. Like this is another battle that's that's ongoing, is trying to unify our water companies because that's a bunch of little family-owned private, you know, fiefdoms that ultimately undoubtedly contributed to our disaster on January 7, one of those like myriad factors in our cascade of failure of a fire response. So, again, you know, how does this all fit in? And and most importantly, though, why is the community not being consulted? What happened to everyone preaching Al Tedina is not for sale? Because apparently Altadena is for sale and you can slap a logo on it for the right price.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think this is it's it's a microcosm of the bigger issues we've been talking about. You know, why would you create a bill like 782 that removes the protest vote and community input for how we're gonna finance all of this? And I think this is just par for the course, honestly. And Altadina is viewed as a way station to whatever agenda is involved here.

SPEAKER_02:

That's what I I think what I keep trying to explain to those I talk to about this is that we are just a pawn in a game that is so much bigger than us that most don't even understand what's at stake, don't even know what's being what the game is being played. Um, and you know, unfortunately, we keep talking and beating this drum of like the development, the development, what's happening with the development.

SPEAKER_00:

But these are all tests to see how much the community is going to push back. And if the community doesn't push back, it's a it's you know, this is what the Trump administration does is it's like one little step. How much can you get away with? And then each step they do, you get further away from what the center is, and eventually you realize that it's already done. They're not gonna kill you with a stab to the gut, it's gonna be a thousand slashes.

SPEAKER_02:

Correct. And that's happening. So I mean, I we we've just been saying, you know, make no mistake, the heart and soul of the community, you know, is at stake. And I think as we wrap up um this topic, I want to just, you know, one of the members of our town council, because there are a few on there who are working for the community and who have raised the alarm many times since the fire and unfortunately been largely silenced. But um, you know, things that the issues that needed clarity uh were, you know, does this new Disney proposal incorporate the original park redesign plans, the ones that the community reviewed, provided feedback on, and approved before the fire? Um, all of that, those plans were created with public input. They included native landscaping, cultural elements that were important to the community, and sculptural installations honoring Charles White. And for anyone who doesn't know who Charles White is, who is the namesake of that park, he was a very um important black artist, you know, arguably one of the most important black artists in American history. Um the Board of Supervisors had previously secured 3.576 million of our tax dollars for improvements that included new walking paths and a sports court, updated lighting, exercise equipment, trees for shade, waterwise landscaping and an outdoor uh classroom, in addition to a prefab multi-purpose building. Um, and there were a lot of civic art elements that honored Charles White. So those funds were actually tied to legislative action that was supported by Supervisor Barger, Rev Judy Chu, and the County Department of Arts and Culture. Um there were also early community presentations, including sculptural concepts by artists uh Wesley Clark that were part of that original scope. How are those commitments being honored or integrated into this Disney proposal? Because there was no mention of any of that. Um, you know, the concerns are real and they're valid, and you know, the community requests and demands that partner that they be a partner in the redevelopment of Altadena, and that the community's voice needs to be the central piece, especially when that park bears the name of a towering black American artist whose legacy deserves thoughtful stewardship. And I think, you know, that's fair and reasonable. You don't need to be black to understand that that is important in any community, but especially in ours, where, you know, again, I just we're gonna lose, we're going to lose a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00:

And it's not gonna be, it's we already know it's not gonna be the same, but um our people are the same, but it's a question of shaping what correct, and if you don't have a input in it and it's just being dictated on top, then that just makes it.

SPEAKER_02:

It feels like a Trojan horse.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it's arbitrary, you know.

SPEAKER_02:

People are like, oh, it's a gift, it's a gift. I'm like, no, it's a it's a Trojan horse. So, you know, um there's a lot, there's a lot more to this. This, like I said, this went on for years, and I could talk about this one for an entire episode because I think, especially after what happened at Loma Alta, that really steamrolled the community um under the guise of like, but it's nice, you know, look at this is nice. We're doing something for you that's nice. Take it. It's like, well, no, we we know what we want, and why can't we speak to what we want? Um it's really frustrating. And I really hope that the community is heard on this.

SPEAKER_00:

But that's a really interesting viewpoint because I think that that's the fear that a lot of the response to this is going to be a lot of response to this fire and this disaster is being now arbitrarily dictated to us as opposed to allowing us a seat at the table and having our our own say.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, it is a very patriarchal approach to the redevelopment, which I probably said in you know episode two or three, and I haven't said in a while, but it is it's a very patriarchal approach to disaster recovery that you know someone else knows best, that we don't know what we need, we don't know what we want, someone else does. Well, when we when we actually let's disnify the town, and that's what we want. That's what we want. We should be so thankful, we should be so appreciative of what we're being given.

SPEAKER_00:

But remember, when we actually put our opinion out, we got shot down.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

Which is even more obnoxious or more frustrating. So I guess that takes Oh no, it's obnoxious. Sorry, it's let's bring us back to to the to the to the one year part.

SPEAKER_02:

We are, we're coming to the one year part. So, you know, Steve and I have been comparing notes as um many of the journalists that we have spoken to over the year are all kind of resurfacing and um percolating their thoughts around what stories are important to Althanina right now as we head into the one year, which issues perhaps have been resolved, which issues are remain outstanding. And, you know, it's been a time for us to really take stock as we try and you know support what is being spoken about it in in the community and elevate, you know, important issues in the in the community. And my takeaway looking at this was like, oh my God, we're at 10 months and fucking nothing is resolved. We have bigger issues now than ever, you know, bigger issues, bigger questions. None of the um community asks have been honored. Nothing that was promised has been followed through. Um, you don't want to be, you know, entirely negative. And again, I think, you know, with everything, it's why with everything that Steve and I discuss here, it is couched in the reality that there are solutions. If anyone would choose to listen and enact those, there are ways to fix this. It does not have to be this way. Um, but here we are. Um, and so in one of those stories that came up, and this is something we haven't talked out about a lot. I don't think we've we I don't know if we've covered on the podcast actually. A journalist wanted to talk to me specifically about why the gas company quickly, willingly, arbitrarily, on their of their own volition, turned cut the gas when the fire kicked off in the Palisades, but never did that in Altadena.

SPEAKER_00:

Why didn't it?

SPEAKER_02:

The gas continued running for days. There were gas fires burning for days. People were calling the gas company, begging for them to turn it off. One of my girlfriends who had a still-standing home on a street where nearly everything else was gone before she knew that that was, you know, a bigger nightmare for other reasons, um, was calling anyone she could, begging them to please go up and turn off the gas because she was afraid that was going to take out her house that had otherwise made the fire, survived the fire, uh, made it through. And um, the gas company told her they couldn't send anybody out. There was nothing they could do. She finally called the sheriff's department and asked, Hey, can you, you know, please help me? Please. She's like, I'm begging you. Like, I'm a single woman. I cannot, you know, get back into Altina. This is the point at which the National Guard and Sheriff had shut the town down. She's like, I cannot get in. And I know that you're making rounds to properties and you're there. And I'm just saying, if you're driving by, would you please, like, just as a neighborly thing, you know, I'm begging you as a favor, please go cut the gas at my house. Just go take a wrench and cut it because I'm so afraid I'm gonna lose the house. And not only did the deputy that she spoke to very unfortunately, you know, tell her in no uncertain terms that they could not and would not do that. But when she was reduced to tears on this phone call and said, you know, what that what would you do if this was your home? The response this deputy gave her, and she has this call recorded, by the way, the response he gave her was if it were me, I would have never left the house without turning off the gas first. When I heard that, I was like, Are you fucking kidding me? Is this is this for real? This is the absolute speaking of obnoxious, obnoxious response that a deputy would give someone at this point when who's trying to desperately save their home, who's a single, she had to explain to him on the rest of this call that she's a single woman who has a very atypical work schedule, who was sound asleep when the fire broke out and only got out of her house with her um her bird. She has an amazing bird, a giant bird, and her two cats alive because the neighbors banged her door down and got her out. Because again, even on the east side, many people did not get an evacuation alert. She was one of them. So, you know, it it was really disturbing and alarming. And no, but worse. She's one who's in the in the in like the worst possible situation I can imagine, to be honest. Her home was standing, even when county went through and walked by visual to create, you know, visually to create the DINS maps. Her house is the only house on her street, one of just a couple of like 60 homes gone and like two standing. But her house is set way back up the street at the back on over perched over the canyon. It was a mid-century post and beam. They did not have any idea how bad it was until she really got in there days after the fire. Her house was impacted so heavily that her windows, her big, you know, mid-you know, the windows on a mid-century home, right? Just massive glass windows looking into this gorgeous canyon. The windows were all melted into puddles on the ground. The glass. Um, the wood, it's post and beam, and the wood is smoked to the point that it's not only permeated with smoke and parts of it were ash, and the sap was dripping out of it because it was so destroyed. Every inspector that's been out has told her that that home has to be taken down to the studs. And she's one of the thousands of people still fighting insurance because she was CFP, California Fair Plan, the insurer of last resort for fire coverage only. And they maintain that she has cosmetic damage. Her house is destroyed. She is displaced permanently until that house can be rebuilt from the studs. She has a significant mortgage because she bought more recently. And that she is paying on top of rent because she's also hardly getting ALE because of her cosmetic damage. And meanwhile, we're 10 months in and her home is now overtaken by rats and every other vermin you can imagine. So anything that had survived is now completely destroyed. It's um that's just one of, again, thousands of nightmare stories. This is what our community is living. But I would I am really interested to see where this investigative journalist journalism piece uh leads on the gas, because that's one of the again, that's a question that's been asked by so many.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, how much was the gas being left on still a function of did did that cause fires after the fact?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, absolutely. We know it.

SPEAKER_00:

So we so the gas company is culpable in some of the destruction that we've had.

SPEAKER_02:

Potentially.

SPEAKER_00:

Wonderful.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Good times. All right, good times and the post-fire rodeo. Um, so let's talk about, you know, briefly as we wrap this, we've gone long again, guys. This is what happens. Um, I try we try hard, we have notes, we have a structure, we try hard to stay on point. But even when we are on point, there's so much to discuss. Um, we could go on for hours on this stuff. But um, we were going to talk about some of the development realities that are coming into focus. And, you know, have we already lost the war or just this battle? And um, you know, it's not just about, you know, the Dodgers financing a field at Loma Alta and like and having and their name slapped on it, a corporate name, which is if if again, it sounds like it's an okay thing for from the outside, but if you were really, if you've been in Altadena a long time, if you really understand the nature of our community, there couldn't be anything more antithetical to what Altadina is than to slap Disney on a park or to slap Dodgers on a park and to put multicolored, you know, things in there that didn't exist. Um, it just could not be less what Altadena is. And that is an ongoing frustration as it ties to even what's happening with the redevelopment and how slow the permitting process is going. We discussed in one of our last episodes the dashboard, and that they had issued 500 and something permits, only um 300 and something of those were unique permits, meaning not just like a house and an ADU. But as far as those who can actually get into building, that is a much smaller number. And um I know you and I are both hearing through the grapevine that the county is so wildly still unprepared for the volume of rebuild permitting that they are putting up uh unspoken roadblocks at various points of of this develop of redevelopment, rebuilding, because they don't have the ability to handle it otherwise.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

So I mean, we you know, where does this put us, right?

SPEAKER_00:

And I mean if we go up and look at this point, is it is it better to have people waiting to get a permit or people to get a permit and then have to wait and it's not better to wait at all.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, we were promised a number of things right out of the gate.

SPEAKER_00:

But those including this aren't realistic, we know. I mean, like, let's be honest. They were never gonna be realistic.

SPEAKER_02:

And I think that I think don't don't tell people that you're going to do something. It's like don't tell people that you're going to suspend SB9 in our community and ensure that the community that's rebuilt looks like the community that was lost, because that's absolutely not what's not what is happening. I'm gonna refer back to my track to 4602, right? Because that is where I live and and it's where in 4602 we saw near total destruction, where it's just everything is gone. And um, even the few trees that made it. Um we we just saw a couple of them lost to the the rain this last weekend. You know, the heavy rain was enough to saturate um roots that were so compromised by the fire that even if the tree looks like it's gonna make it, you know, a lot of them are not gonna make it be to be with a few weather events, they're gonna be done and down, and one came down on a car this weekend. But um, you know, if you look at what's going up in the community, and there are builds going up in the community, which is incredibly encouraging to see because we need to see that and we need some beacon of hope that we're going to rebuild this town one way or another. But if you look at it and you again contextually, the community was full of single-story homes, cottages, average of 1,200 to 1,500 square foot homes. What is going up now and what is being allowed with um permit the way that things are being allowed to be permitted, um, maxing out lots with up to four structures per lot, you heard me right, every lot can have up to two homes and up to two ADUs. So you're looking, and it's a sea of two-story homes, which means if you wanted to rebuild something that is architecturally like for like of to what you lost, like my single-story Jane's cottage, it's gonna look pretty out of place and tiny. And then what is your property value like when you're the little house on the house on the street of all the big houses with towering two-story ADUs? And then all of your privacy is gone. And you know, it's not that we can't and shouldn't allow people to rebuild a two-story home if that's what they really want. But I think we also have to understand that, you know, what we're giving up at the same time, and that is, you know, the character of the community and uh certainly the privacy that I know for a lot of people was really important. Um, it's it's the rise of the mini mansion and the two-story ADU.

SPEAKER_00:

It's exactly what everybody expected to have happen.

SPEAKER_02:

I know. I hate being right, Steve. I said this to someone last night, man. It's a bitch being right all the time. I don't like it. I would love to be wrong, but please make me wrong on some of this because it it sucks. It all sucks.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, look, I think we're at a point where as a community we have to continue to try to hold our people to account the best we can, and know that we don't have to accept what's being said and being offered to see what's available.

SPEAKER_02:

So it's time to um fight the power, as it were.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know if you have to fight the power.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I think we do have to fight the power.

SPEAKER_00:

That's because you're a fighter. I am. I I'm I'm more of a diplomat when it comes to that stuff.

SPEAKER_02:

I can be diplomatic too, but I'm also, you know, a certain fuck around and find out age.

SPEAKER_00:

I I'm aware.

SPEAKER_02:

So as we wrap this one up, let's talk about, let's give our uh small, a small business shout-out. I want to talk about um a very specific situation. Um, another topic that was also in the news the last uh couple of weeks, if anyone's paying attention to local headlines, and that is um two dragons martial arts, the martial arts studio.

SPEAKER_00:

They were in the uh LA Times.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, they were in the LA Times uh the other day on North Lake. Um I'm not gonna try and say her name because I don't know how to pronounce it correctly and I never want to butcher her name, but the owner um who isn't, you know, this is another legacy black business in our community. Um, she has been fighting to keep um her business in the community because not surprisingly, as so many parcels, her landlord is selling the land where um the studio itself burned down. Um the she was able to make a bid for$600,000 that the landlord accepted. So it's actually it's undermarket, but the landlord is going, accepted that her bid and is giving her the opportunity to buy the land, which in itself is pretty exceptional. So shout out to that landlord because that is absolutely the definition of doing the right thing for the community. But um, now she's got to come up with 600 grand. So there was a big LA Times story, and she's got to go fund me if anyone's interested. Yeah, that I think so too last night. So, you know, the bottom line, she needs to come up with half a million dollars um to now actually buy the land and then figure out how she's going to pay to build the studio. Actually, I think she has the financing of the rebuild in hand. It's a matter of of finding, you know, a way to buy the land so that she can do it. So um that is our our small biz highlight for today. And I really hope that someone, somehow, even if it's you know, thousands of people and their own little contributions, find a way to step up and help her make that a reality. Because again, we need those businesses. That's what our community is all about.

SPEAKER_00:

Indeed. And with that, I think it's time to sign off.

SPEAKER_02:

So we are. So tell them where to find us and where to send us hate mail.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, well, you can go to Shauna, she's on everything Instagram, Facebook, whatever else.

SPEAKER_02:

Substack, beautiful Altadina.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I'm just on Substack, so I'm boring.

SPEAKER_02:

So, and again, if anyone has questions or comments, I really I would love to hear them. And you know, uh questions, comments, things you want covered, opposing viewpoints, um, please send them. Um, you can email us at beautifulaltadina og at gmail.com. Again, beautifulaltadina og at gmail.com. Until next time. Yep, exactly. You can hit up Steve. So until next time, we'll see you later. We'll see you soon.

SPEAKER_00:

Bye now.