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 18: Journalists Are Writing the First Draft of History
Another long episode recorded as we approach the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire, this episode examines the questions that still hang in the air. The questions that will shape not only how we remember the fire, but how we rebuild from it. We reflect on the narratives emerging from the reporting over the past year and the political realities behind them. Which electeds will step forward as true champions — and which will let Altadena be overlooked again? What assumptions were made in the early days of the fire, from promises to implement reforms to hopes for better planning… and which of those were never fulfilled? Density, rebuilding, and urban planning. Is there a Master Plan guiding the reconstruction of Altadena? The ongoing lack of acountability. What have officials actually done to ensure responsibility for the response, the rebuild, and community support? And what does this all mean for the 2026 and 2028 elections, locally and nationally?
These are just a few of the themes shaping this moment — themes raised by residents, journalists, and community leaders who understand that the way we document disaster shapes how we recover from it.
We also touch on major national developments this week, including the Prop 50 ruling and Texas redistricting being overturned, and what these shifts signal about political accountability across the country.
This week, our small business spotlight is all about Altadena’s fall and holiday events:
✨ Betsy (@betsynotbetsys) — Making Eater’s Best New Restaurants in America
✨ Mariposa Junction (@mariposajunction) — Reopening November 22, 10–2 at Lake & Mariposa (postponed for rain)
✨ Rhythms of the Village — Village Fall Festival at Muir (@rhythmsofthevillage) — Nov 22, 12–5
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.
Welcome back. This is After the Ashes, the Beautiful Al Tedina podcast, breaking down legislation and recovery after the Eaton Fire. This is your co-host Shauna here. This is episode 18. One year later, journalists are writing the first draft of history. And yes, we know what the date is. And no, it's not quite one year, but this is when everyone's writing their stories, right, Steve?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we're starting to get to that point. I think a lot of people are, as we have been, and we've been talking about dribbles and drabs, and I think we're gonna just take it on head on here, asking the questions, you know, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And you know, I've been asked it numerous times by multiple electeds and other folks. So um I think we probably I think the question people have been asking us, I know Shauna, you've been pinged and I've been pinged, is you know, as we're looking at the coming up on the year and what we're seeing and what is it gonna look like? And so, you know, we were thinking about it and we felt like why don't we just kind of put it out there and put out some questions and kind of start discussing it and prompt it so whoever is a journalist listening to this, they can start to pick which areas they want to go at. Because some of it's national. And, you know, there are people out there that are journalists that are gonna look at this from a national perspective, some of it's statewide. You know, there are people that address California specific, but you know, at a state level and a Sacramento policy level. And then there are people at like the LA Times that have kind of bridged both worlds and maybe even the Passing Star News, that you know, they want to see things from a very much a local lens. And you know, we talk a lot about the local lens. And so, you know, the idea here is I see it, and the reason why I started the Substack, one of the reasons, was we talk that that line, uh journalism is the first draft of history, comes from the newspaper industry, right? And that is that first retelling of the story and shaping the narrative. And, you know, it's a primary source, as historians know. They go to the the the you know the newspapers and other primary sources first. But what I figured is, you know, Substack was really like a rough draft of the first draft. I mean, you know, and I joke about it because my grammar sucks and my grammar doesn't suck. It does.
SPEAKER_01:You just drop things, you know, train of thought and rapidly, you know, which is you know, you're gonna sacrifice a little bit of edit when you are posting multiple times a day. Well, this is that.
SPEAKER_00:And again, I try not to, but there's just a lot happening. And um, but the idea was that we would give that first that rough draft so that the uh the journalists and the media would be able to pick up that rough draft and use that rough draft to start to shape their drafts. Yep. So, you know, at this point, we're a year in, and being the historian that I am, this is something that's near and dear to my heart. I look at things from a historical perspective. And, you know, I feel like history is so critical to this because we are writing it in real time. And what makes we've had a lot of folks that have come in, and Shawnee, you've had a lot of conversations with people who have, you know, post disasters, Paradise, Lahaina, and other disaster areas. And they've given us their experiences to help us move faster or move more efficiently, or be able to have the right asks to warn us of challenges that they've encountered and bad actors and all these other things. And maybe we haven't been able to forestall all of those things, but being forewarned, being foretold is forewarned, right? Absolutely. And we were at least able to know where to start targeting ourselves and be a little bit more, I'd say, cognizant of what is coming. And so, you know, I look at this as this is our chance to kind of look back on that year. And, you know, there's a lot of themes that are history allows us to understand what happened and allows us to set ourselves up for what's coming next. It doesn't foretell what's going to happen, but it certainly helps shape what's going to happen. And so that's why I think that this question, when it's been posed to me and I think posed to you, it resonates more deeply because I think that this is the moment where we can start to put the rubber to meet the road and say, these are all the promises we've had, and we've talked about it, but here's how we can move forward. And this is where the next 12 months could be if we start to take in what we have. And for those who are gonna come after us, a big part of why we're doing this is because we want those who come after us to be able to move faster than we did.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And while humans are gonna change what the actual effect will be, because humans are gonna be very different, and we you we have a different reaction to everything. It's the idea that these structures allow you the ability to navigate some of that, you know, the the bigger picture so you can navigate the humanity in your local community. So, with that, that's my rant.
SPEAKER_01:I don't think it's a rant. I think it's um I didn't hear a response.
SPEAKER_00:It's like you often you don't interject. I get scared when you don't say anything.
SPEAKER_01:I was I I I agree with you. I agree with you. I think this is what this is the landscape that we have ahead. So and a lot of big questions to tackle, and we have a list.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, we do, and I don't know if we'll get all the way through it.
SPEAKER_01:We're not gonna get through this list. We it would take us the entirety of the episode just to read the list, to be honest.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, come on.
SPEAKER_01:Do we um yeah, it it's it's the truth. So I think that um Should we just dive in? You know, like where do we gonna dive in? Like I well, I I think I kind of want to dive in in the middle, and I say the middle because we have this uh we'd literally have a giant list in front of us. Um I sent Steve uh pages of notes, and then Steve sent me a text that was so big it crashed messages and I never saw it. With however many, uh I don't know, what do we got? Um we we've got about 50 questions here that you know okay, no, 40 something to pose and and ask about you know where things are where things have been and where we're headed. Um and uh I think we're kind of I kind of want to start in the middle. Go um with is there a master plan to rebuild Altadina and what goals are being used?
SPEAKER_00:And I think that's the interesting question, right?
SPEAKER_01:It is such I mean it's kind of like starting at the end, but I think we need to jump to the end for the beginning.
SPEAKER_00:Well, there's a very good friend of mine who's an elected who always says start with the jury instructions and work backward. I, you know, I he always tells me, I say, Steve, give me the jury instructions, give me the bottom line. Um, you what is the master plan? I mean, I think that's what the EIFD was supposed to be, right? Like it's supposed to be a master plan, but again, we don't know, we haven't been told what the master plan is, nor do we have any idea. Well, we won't be able to say anything about it because it's gonna be dictated to us on high. Right now, what what building on that, which I thought was an another interesting theme, because the climate resilience district, when this fire hit, I remember all the talk in the spring when we were talking about financing and figuring out how to address this was climate resilience, you know, building back more climate resilient, building back with more climate, you know, friendly, et cetera, et cetera. I drive around to Altadina right now, all I'm seeing is wood. And I'm sitting there going to myself, where was the last I haven't heard boo about climate since 782 got through into the you started really moving?
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:And you know, it was all climate, climate, climate to get the climate resilience district there. But since then, I have you heard anything about the climate? Have you heard anything about resilient building back? Nope. Or are we just building back more dense and larger?
SPEAKER_01:Correct. That's exactly what we're doing. Okay. Um I thought we were supposed to be, I thought we were supposed to be positive on this episode. We are. We're trying so hard. Uh, but it is it is tough. And I mean, that is a reality that it's not happening.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I I I I'm saying this because I say tongue in cheek, but I also think it's like how much of this, and this gets back to the trust factor, and again, the community groups that have been put in place, where they are, what they've advocated for, how they've been elevated, and where do they stand in the current environment.
SPEAKER_01:Landscape. Yep.
SPEAKER_00:Because community groups were a critical component of this, and how that all leads in with the philanthropic money that got cascaded around. And I know we've touched on it here, Shauna, but I mean, this is a big part of the discussion that I think has to be investigated, not investigated, I think it's the wrong word, but definitely that string needs to be pulled to kind of see how all these things are interactive. And, you know, what what one of the things we've talked about is when you look at the response that's happened, it's been a string of failures isolated. But when you put those failures together, as you always say, the trend is your friend. Yeah, you know, it's very clear that this is a much broader question. And so if I'm a if I'm in the media and I'm looking at this, that's this is another component to it all. So, you know, whether it's climate resilience districts, whether it's the community groups and who we're elevated out of the community groups, where are they going to sit in the structure going forward? I mean, I remember somebody in one of the organizations that was looking at this question said to me, I try to do an organizational chart or some kind of chart to determine what the community groups are and where they all fit in Al Tanina. And they said, I I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Can you?
SPEAKER_01:I know. I love that that was one of the And was it is it flooding the zone?
SPEAKER_00:I mean, like, is this just a Trump plan? I'm not not just not Trump by the administration, but following the tactics.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Um, I don't, I actually, I honestly don't believe that. I think that it is beyond well-intentioned, but we also know where good intentions get us, um, which is not always where we want to be. Um, and I I love that that was one of the questions on this list of like, who's tracking all of the community orgs working on these things? This was in the spring they asked this question. Well, it ties back into this question um of is there a master plan, right? Is there any kind of like real master plan or blueprint for how we are rebuilding Al Tadena? Since it's clearly not what we lost. We're not building what we what we just lost. So if we're building, you know, a new iteration of our town, you know, what does that look like? What is especially the com the business districts, the commerce areas? What's being done? What is the plan? What's the vision? What's the goal? You know, we had all these visioning meetings for the San Gabriel Valley area plan. We had them for our prior to that for our CSD and the development of that, um, a lot of um time and energy was put in by numerous community leaders um who did incredible and important work. But all that kind of fell to the wayside. And we're seeing that with the park and we're seeing it with the CSG and SB9. So where, you know, it does ask beg this question of where is the plan? And if there is a plan, you know, can we can the community see that and and play into it? Because that's this is where I do want to be really positive, actually. There is a path forward to do this, there is a way, but but it has to be done and it has to be inclusive of the community and all swaths of the community, which is what frankly is not happening right now because so much work, well-intentioned, important work is being siloed and it's being done by these individual groups and coalitions and collections of groups in their own independent silos, and they're not talking to one another.
SPEAKER_00:But maybe that is the master plan.
SPEAKER_01:Or are there well, the plan is to not have a plan?
SPEAKER_00:Well, maybe there is a master plan behind the plan. Again, we don't know. These are the questions that aren't being answered, asked yet, and nor answered.
SPEAKER_01:I don't think they have answers. I think they're not going to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_00:There are certain well, I think there's certain groups that have more visibility on that than others. Yeah. Another question I've got is, you know, back to your uh San Gabriel Valley plan was like, was there opposition to it? And are some of those opposition elements starting to surface here? You know, I I I've known in politics, uh, I'm I'm dealing with an issue with the VA right now that six years later, they're coming back again to try to change some policy that they never should have been doing in the first place. And they got smacked down in 2019, and yet here we are, 2025, 2026, it's still there. Yeah, these groups don't go away once they decide that they want to be a part of something. So that's something to you know, be interesting to see the history on that as they pull that string a little bit.
SPEAKER_01:It will be interesting. And where do you think it will take us?
SPEAKER_00:I have no idea. I mean, what could that's the fun part about all this is that there's the there's the macro story, but then there's all these micro stories within the macro that can get really interesting really fast. So, you know.
SPEAKER_01:So that to me was one of my most interesting questions, I think, to ask. What do you think is one of the the other more most interesting questions to ask right now and stories to tell? It's a big list.
SPEAKER_00:I know. I know.
SPEAKER_01:I put Steve on the spot.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I mean, because to me, I'm I'm gonna migrate toward the federal stuff and I'm gonna migrate towards the policy. But one of the questions that we haven't, you know, the Wall Street Journal brought it up in March, and the Urban Land Institute talked about it. But financing and insurance still haven't been solved. Right. You know, and that I think is, you know, we're still sitting here and building on that. It's getting back to the fat the federal response, you know. Is this disaster playbook changing? As you pointed out earlier, FEMA is no longer with a acting with a director, the CDBG situation working its way through Congress. You know, is there gonna be is there a chance to federalize some of this? Are we gonna be responsible more at the state level? What is that reaction gonna look like and how are we gonna get there? I think that that's that's something that needs to be explored too. Um you know what what is this, you know, this model has been growing out since Hurricane Andrew, you know, this idea of disaster relief and federal participation. Are there more flexibility or is there more flexibility, or are there more options if we looked at this from a state perspective? And as I I alluded to earlier in the first episode, is this something that we can use even private, not like publicly accountable private organizations to catalyze faster and get these results faster than what we're getting right now? And maybe with more accountability and more oversight than what we're getting from our electeds. Yeah. Because quite frankly, I don't think the way Altadena's set up, accountability really isn't built into the system.
SPEAKER_01:It's not. I mean, I I think you made a really great point in asking can anyone document who has emerged um in leadership groups in Altadena, what they have accomplished and what they are on the record to accomplish in the next 12 years.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think that that's the real key question.
SPEAKER_01:That's the real question, right? There's a lot of busy work, there's a lot of talk, there's a lot of press, um, you know, all of that and and money being spent, frankly, is a lot of these orgs um have been funded with that elusive fire aid money that passed from org to org. But um, you know, what happens? And I think it goes to that question, too, that we've asked a few times also like a lot, what's gonna change in the next year, right? How significantly does our landscape change when many of these orgs inevitably run out of that money? Like that money was enough to fund you for six months, eight months, 12 months, maybe up to 18 if you're lucky. But if you don't have other money lined up, and we know federal money is not coming. So if you don't have other money lined up, well, I mean, they're gonna tell everybody the federal money's coming. Well, that's that's been the party line.
SPEAKER_00:But we know it's not just through the next 30 days through the NDAA. Um, yeah, you're right. You're right. This, this, the money is gonna dry up, and then what?
SPEAKER_01:And then what? You know, it's it's I think, you know, again, as is has been outlined and we've been discussing that so many of these groups have emerged, but who's actually leading them? Who's going to be accountable to the community? Are any of them even accountable to the community now? And and what goals and promises are they making that they need to be held to? And I love that you raise that because, like I said, so many of these things are operating in silos. They're having conversations with little individual, you know, niche communities and swaths of the community, but not really bridging and talking across the multiple groups that exist and coexist in the community, which is how you see like so much, you know, bristly uh engagement happening, right? Like around the situation with the park. Like I think that was with Charles White Park and frankly, even going back to Loma Alta Park with the Charles White Park, that being so well intended, such, you know, really truly good intentions, maybe not by Disney, because you know, Disney in a lot of ways is the big bad. Um, but certainly the imagineers who live in our town, and many of whom lost their homes, these are good people with great ideas who want to contribute and want to help rebuild a better town. But again, those folks operating in their own silo, not talking to the other folks who were already doing this work before the fire. But this is and then here we are, getting nowhere, spinning wheels, and having this perceived, you know, uh idea, this perception that, you know, oh, no one wants anything nice, everyone's negative, everyone's a pain in the ass. No, everyone needs to be talking. There needs to be real accountability, there needs to be real communication, there needs to be real um alignment. And that I think is the missing piece to all of this. But what about but is it deliberate?
SPEAKER_00:Well, the question is and so that's what I was really saying is like, when are we gonna peel back the layer and start to get to the next layer?
SPEAKER_01:It's an onion.
SPEAKER_00:And one of the things that I find, you know, I found with this whole disaster thing is, you know, one thing government does really well, or bureaucracies and organizations that want to continue to keep the game going is distract and delay. Delay is the tactic, it's the time-worn tactic.
SPEAKER_01:If you wait long enough, things theme word. I think that delay does it is the theme.
SPEAKER_00:Elongate is the other way to do it.
SPEAKER_01:But I would say that that delay arguably is the theme word. If if we were to have a Pantone color of the year, I think um Aldina's post-fire uh first one year theme word is delay because everything has been delayed. Our insurance, the the lawsuit, everything, the rebuild permits, everything is delayed, delay, delay. And ultimately, delay forces people out of the town, out of the community.
SPEAKER_00:Well, no, delay allows also time for solutions to fill when you don't have the solutions. Delay wears down the opposition because the opposition gets tired and walks away. Delay allows those that are in power to remain in power and allow them to, if they don't have the answer, find the answer, build their coalitions, do what they have to do. It is a tactic that is so effective. And the only way to change it is to force the issue, which is where the media is so critical because when you shine the light on it, when the sunlight comes in to quote Justice Brandeis, it disinfects a lot of this delay because it's forcing the hand. Now, what's been interesting too, one of the tactics they've also used here is a tremendous amount of diversion, another D.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:You know, diversion, like you're talking about all these different groups and silos. That's created in a way to create that disorder. Another D. Wow, we're illiterate today.
SPEAKER_02:We are.
SPEAKER_00:Um, because by using those silos and using this disorder, it makes it look like there's no real cogent path and cogent plan, and thus allowing whatever's going on behind the scenes to happen and allows things to continue on because in disorder, you're like, Well, I just don't know. I'm gonna pull up my hand, throw up my hands and say it's crazy.
SPEAKER_01:I wish you could see us because we're both sorry.
SPEAKER_00:And then and then the other one is is like, let's let's point at each other and you know, well, it's your fault. No, it's your fault. Well, I can't do it because of you, I can't do it because of you. Well, you do that is so that's politics, but because it's an excuse not to get things done. And it again, I think that we in Altadina have been we because we don't have incorporation, because we don't have a city or a town or a way to truly leverage our town, uh, what we have here, we've been kind of thrust about and left to fend for ourselves. And we're more than anything, this is flooding the zone because this noise has allowed them, those that want to carry out an agenda that we're not aware of to carry it out. So that's the third question that I'd be asking is what is that agenda? What is the plan? You know, sitting and waiting for it to happen is a scary thought because we're just it's gonna be the the realization that, oh, there it is. Okay, now I see it. But it's already done. And that's the problem is that we don't have the ability to counter that that that momentum right now, or we need to have more visibility to give us the stories to to force that that attention onto those organizations and those people that are moving an agenda that might not be as public as we would like.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Because it's not public at all.
SPEAKER_01:And the reason is it does come back to the point, to your point, you know, and I don't want to beat the dead horse that I have been accused of beating in the past, that you know, we ultimately we need to incorporate. We don't have a voice, we don't have we don't steer our own ship.
SPEAKER_00:Or absent incorporation, we need to have participation and we need to have visibility, we need to have accountability.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. And it doesn't exist, especially when you're busy, you know, writing and putting all of your weight behind bills that do nothing but remove accountability, 782.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I that it's it's and that's one of the questions that should be asked of our electeds is, and again, why? Why would you choose that? Why would you make that decision? That decision is not a you had an EIFD legislation and path already in place. You could have been implementing that in February. But why did you not?
SPEAKER_01:It was an emergency. Why weren't we? I I think it's a nice, well, we've talked about that a lot, you know, for anyone who wants to go back, go listen to our episodes on 782, 797, the bills, and you know, um, what got pushed through, what didn't, why? And um, you know, I think it sounds like there there may be some hope for 797 to be resurrected at some point, maybe for the next session. I certainly, I certainly hope so, because we need those tools. So one way or another, we need those tools. Um, but I think it brings us to another really great point of, you know, which electeds will emerge as champions of various political themes, or will we just be will Al Tedina just be overlooked and not important?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I don't think Al Tedina is unimportant. I think what people have to understand is why Al Tedina is important. I think again, it's asking the right question. Altadena and the fire response with between Altadena and the Palisades is going to be the road to 2028 and the CEO seat. I I've said that from the start, and you're seeing the organizations that are emerging from the background and the plans that are emerging from the background.
SPEAKER_01:Who do we think is going for that CEO seat? I'm not gonna make any predictions in public, but I think I I mean I had my early predictions, but I think my predictions have already been shown uh or disproven, let's put it that way, because those the folks who I thought would be going after that CEO role, in fact, are going, I'm now aware of the other things that they're gonna shift into. So I'm very curious to see who ends up in that CEO role.
SPEAKER_00:Well, that's the thing about politics. Politics is it's constantly changing.
SPEAKER_01:Or rather, who ends up going for the CEO role since that is no longer appointed and will now be an elected position that we we will all vote on.
SPEAKER_00:What the the thing that about that role that I think is critical is the road to that role was homelessness up until the fires hit. And this rebuild, homelessness in the Olympics to a certain extent, but this rebuild is going to run so much of it because it's aligning so many of the different constituencies that are gonna be necessary to govern to win that election, assuming certain, you know, political uh what's the word I'm looking for, norms exist come 2028. Um that's gonna be a crazy time anyway in our country because of what's happening on the broader picture, and that's gonna be a presidential and an open presidential seat. I know there are people saying Trump's gonna run for a third term, but I think you could see he's getting his feet kicked out from under him a lot faster than ever expected. So I don't that I don't buy at this point. So, you know, what 2028's gonna look like and what that landscape's gonna be is gonna be crazy town. But I think I think it's also 26. I think what what does Altadena act as a harbinger for as a broader conversation? And you know, I brought this up on my Substack, and some of my readers probably recognize this theme, but it was said to me by Mike Madrid, you know, in a uh not directly to me, but Mike Madrid was mentioning that this is a chance for enterprising electeds to start to look at how we can begin to change the the political conversation here in California. It's not that it's necessarily going to turn California Republican in any way, shape, or form, because California will not become Republican, especially after Prop 50. But I think that what, as I wrote yesterday, does the Republican Party or Republican voters do they start to realize that they have a big voice here if they could use it correctly? And you know, is there a moderation that occurs because of this? Is this the chance where we look at some of these chibelists that have been said for so long about California and assume, and we look at how we've been governed here in Al Tedina, we say, you know what? This is a microcosm. And this gets back to a lot of the issues you've talked about with accountability and you know, the post-fire response and you know, one thing after another after another. No, we're still waiting for it.
SPEAKER_01:Still waiting. And how do you have trust without accountability? Exactly. You don't. How do you move forward?
SPEAKER_00:I mean, and does this become a throw the bums out moment where we just say, you know what, we're just so done.
SPEAKER_01:Goodbye, AG Banta, goodbye, Lara, goodbye, all the people that's terming out, goodbye. Well, Catherine's terming out, goodbye. And I just think, you know, to all these guys, goodbye, good riddance.
SPEAKER_00:To the machine's behind them is this a moment where we say, Enough. You know what? You the they're responsive to the people who put them in power. Electeds, uh everyone thinks that they're these master, you know, strategists and everything. And they're some of them are very bright, but a lot of them have to respond to the people who got them where they are.
SPEAKER_01:Right. And including those who fund them.
SPEAKER_00:And so start to look behind the curtain. And, you know, it'd be nice to see some work and some of these conversations happening. You know, there's a new paper that's coming to Los Angeles in January. And it'll be very interesting to say, is this the moment where they start to look at things a little different too and say, you know what? We're coming with fresh eyes. And, you know, maybe their political leanings might not be exactly what Los Angeles is known for. But if they come with fresh eyes, maybe they can start to chip away at some of the things that not just the right are saying, but the left are saying too. Like there are chivalists that they're saying that there's that they're not liking. And, you know, that's why we're seeing the swings to the Mandamis and, you know, the others like that.
SPEAKER_01:Because it's that was exactly you know, I was about to make that example, but it's true. It's like we see what Mam Dani, the vote, the overwhelming support of Mam Dani, especially by the people, you know, the true the working class folks in New York, um, that was really a vote against the billionaire class, a vote that like, and and New York is home of the billionaire class. And it was, and it just like we've had enough.
SPEAKER_00:But it's a continuation of what the vote against Harris and Biden was. It's it's neither side is getting what they really want. And so this is another interesting question is does Altadena become an area where we could start to, I call it, I, you know, those who've been reading lately, I've been calling it the wealth agenda. Everybody's talking about affordability because that's what got Trump elected in 24. That's what brought the the large turnout against the Republicans in 25. And everybody knows that that's the buzzword that's driving 26. But I think the word is being used to obscure, and I don't think it's the right word. I think it's about wealth. And is Altadena a place where we can start to address some of the questions that we talked about in the last session, you know, forestalling foreclosures. But you can afford things if there's wealth.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:You don't necessarily get wealth by creating affordability.
SPEAKER_01:No, but I mean, and this goes back to the fact that, you know, so many people are going to lose their generational wealth, right? So it's about generational preservation out the door.
SPEAKER_00:But it's preservation, but there's also an opportunity here. You know, those who have read my economic plan for Altadena, where we could potentially create a community-based ownership where we can, you know, distribute wealth in ways that haven't hasn't been done before and do it with transparency and do it with oversight. We can do this with building back or in preserving that wealth and giving people the opportunity to come into homes. You know, as much as rent control is an option, I think we need to be at a point where we're finding homes and building the ability for people to buy. Homes for at or cheaper than what rentals are. I mean, I think it's ridiculous that people are stuck in rent control and stuck there because they're not able to build wealth. They're just paying money to a landlord. And and and that's, you know, what you keep hearing this week has been the average age of a person buying a home today is 40 years old. When Biden came in in 21, it was 33. Before that, in a generation ago, it was in their late 20s or mid-20s.
SPEAKER_01:I was 35 and it was a miracle. But what's a miracle that I was able to buy my home.
SPEAKER_00:But this is a problem. And, you know, again, it's affordability, but you know, this is a broader question. It's not just rent control, it's not just land use. It's we have to build and we have to unlock there's a supply distortion, and we have to look at the things that are creating this supply distortion. I had a conversation with an elected just last week about Prop 13, and they looked at me like, Are you crazy? And I said, Look at New York. Millennials are outnumbering baby boomers. And people who have bought homes in the last five to 10 years are not going to see, you know, if their property taxes were to go up, it wouldn't change that much. What's going to change what they're paying today? It's those that are the baby boomers that go back generally, you know, 30, 40, 50 years ago that are holding on to homes that are too big for them and limiting new families from getting in. That is the that is a huge supply that's available today. And that's where families could be going in at a much cheaper rate. And if we had houses, we can unlock, and once we start to unlock these, these, these constraints in the supply, we could start to move people through it and create liquidity. And that's critical. And that's where we create wealth. And, you know, I say if you're gonna do that and you're gonna take away prop 13, you got to do something else, which is lower taxes. I know California lowering income taxes. Holy shit, what are you on?
SPEAKER_01:No, but we have to. Something has to give. But if you choose to All we're doing is filtering money to the top, more and more money to the top, and more and more money away from the working class and what used to be, I'm not even gonna say middle class because I don't think that exists anymore. But um, you know, and we're seeing now in our landscape after the fire, so many people lost all of their wealth. I'm one of them, you know, like the my wealth was the equity in my home. I have a million dollars of equity in my home because I bought it so low and then did put so much into it. Um, that was wiped out overnight.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I that that's gone.
SPEAKER_01:My wealth is gone. I can't see my house to getting wealth out of it either. That is the case now for all of the our neighbors, you know, who are in third, fourth, even fifth generation in their homes. They had uh inherited all that wealth and it is gone. And, you know, and now they're being forced out, and then they stand to lose it all. And how do we how do we get this back? I mean, these are these big questions that we have to continue to try and find to solve with it through some sort of balanced lens for the rebuild of our town. Because, you know, we're looking at these, you know, again, the average size of our homes was 120 to 1500 square feet, a lot of three-bedroom, one bath. Um, we are now shifting in the rebuild understandably because people it's costing so much to rebuild. If we're gonna invest this money for this, for there to be any ROI, for this to make any sense, for you not to be upside down entirely, for you to have recoup any of that wealth that you just lost through the loss of your home and the fire, you have to build a bigger home on these lots. You've got you almost have to to get there. So if you're gonna do that, and you have to have the ADU, you need to do that. So if you're gonna do all of that, and now we've ushered in the gents, the densification, now we've got the higher property tax brackets, now we've got what the county, I think, has been angling at for in every way in for and every piece goes back to every single thing, goes back to raising the tax base for the county. But as we do all of that, we're disenfranchising entirety, entire communities of people. The renters that were forced out, forget it, they can never come back. The owners that were forced out, I don't know how they're ever coming back. Uh, how is any of this happening? It's like how, how, let's talk about affordability for a second. And I know I I'm gonna let you have your moment, Steve. I Steve is chomping at the bit, but I really do want to touch on this issue of affordability because it was already had become, you know, I don't know about what you bought for and when, Steve, but I know when I bought and what I paid. And my home was triple that. And what I bought, what I bought for and paid for my home was like the max of what I could afford. That was the top of my budget. I there was no more. If I could I the fact that I was able to buy my house, like I said, that was a miracle. I couldn't do it five years later. I wouldn't be able to do it now. I don't know how anyone is doing it. And that was when all of our homes were going for a million dollars plus. They're now gonna be 1.5 to$2 million plus. Who is living in Altonina?
SPEAKER_00:I'm not arguing any of that. And I don't think I think this is a bigger picture. And I think that okay, before we go on that one, I just wanted to say I I'm thinking it's ironic as we're talking about the massive homes that are gonna be going in in our climate resilience district that you know use much more energy because the own energy energy efficient homes that existed that were created in the 1930s and 40s are now gone.
SPEAKER_01:Correct.
SPEAKER_00:And we're now gonna but it's a climate resilience district, Sean.
SPEAKER_01:I can't, I cannot. Just I just don't get me all riled up today. I just had to. I can't. My blood pressure can't handle it. But it's true. It's it's such it's such horseshit, guys. It's um it's like it's the worst kind of greenwashing, right? For those who don't know the term greenwashing, it was like, you know, when the organic movement happened, it was like putting the word all natural, which means literally nothing in the by the FDA. Like all natural means nothing.
SPEAKER_00:I could, you know, all natural high fructose corn syrup.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, correct. It's a meaningless term. But all these companies, when things began to go organic, would put all natural on things or um, you know, put hormone-free on a uh chicken on a milk product that never ever used hormone. So, like that again, it is a meaningless statement. And don't even it anyhow. That's like everything that's wrong with our country, in you know, one example.
SPEAKER_00:Um says the person in marketing and PR.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly, but that no, but that you can buy this, you shouldn't be able to buy this, it shouldn't exist. If we had a government that functioned, it should actually care for and take care of the people and not the cor corporate entities that stand to profit. And that's it, because the country is one giant corporation, and you know, we are not the executive officers being paid. That's somebody else. So anyhow, I digress. So that is what's happening now is that we're seeing like another version of greenwashing through this, you know, climate resiliency district and like climate, climate. Yeah, we're not doing anything. The only thing we've heard about climate was that absolutely absurd and nane zone zero bullshit, right? Of like, oh, the Bogan Via is what burned down our town. I cannot like no guys, I had the defensible space. The reason the town burned the way it did was the confluence of lack of response and and attempts to knock down the fire. And we're not gonna get into the blame for that, but that's just a reality of what happened, plus external factors of the weather, external factor of no water, right? So there was no real response. And then on top of that, there was so much fuel. And why was there so much fuel? Because our community was built so densely. And what are we doing now? Building it back even more densely. Don't even get me started on the parking. We won't have any green because don't even get me started on the parking. Yeah, where are you even gonna plant the trees? Don't be any space to plant the trees.
SPEAKER_00:All right, so I mean, this brought me to a question.
SPEAKER_01:Oh man, I was supposed to not go negative in this episode, you guys, but this stuff bums me out. It it just without having to ask the questions. We have to ask the questions.
SPEAKER_00:You have to ask the questions, and unfortunately, you have to ask the questions with a sense of rhetoric or bite because otherwise it doesn't get answered. So here's one that I thought about. Considering both the fires were man-made, one from poor policy related to removing decommissioned power lines. And SRP, I'll give you credit, you wanted to get that bill through, and you're not wrong. And power not being shut down in the proper way, and another not being by not adequately extinguishing a fire, which I still think is crazy. What are we doing to address the fact both are effectively human failures instead of other contributing factors? I mean, we hear a lot about climate being the driver of it, but it wasn't climate. This was not a climate. This is not a lightning storm that hit in the desert and then has had crazy winds.
SPEAKER_01:This is a combination of just human straight-up ineptitude on every level, or in in our case, you know, in Altadena and for the Eaton Fire, um, corporate negligence. That's it. You know, it's human-based. Yep. And entirely, as I like to say over and over, entirely preventable. And please let's stop saying wildfire because that is not what this was. And so it's what it became. So it's not what it was.
SPEAKER_00:When do we do that root cause analysis? I mean, and I'm not talking like the the McChrystal report, which you know was designed to whitewash government. I'm talking about an investigation from a journalist or a group of journalists to look at what really caused this. And, you know, how can we prevent this from happening to another community in the future? You know, Lahaina was a power lines. We were power lines.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I mean, it's well, I think we know, and it's the it's again, it's going back to the big bad that nobody wants to address in a meaningful way. And that is that I'm gonna, again, I'm broken record on a few topics. This is one that everyone is so intertwined and so deeply in bed with one another, our electeds with our private for-profit utilities, with our unions that support our sheriff's department, our fire department, that it is to a point where there's no accountability because no one can ask any hard questions and answer them because you don't want any one of those pieces to collapse because you're gonna go with it. It's a house of cards. So we cannot get real answers. And it would seem we can't even get real meaningful change because without dismantling the current power structure, okay.
SPEAKER_00:So let's how do we do this? So, okay, Sean, Sean's of the mindset take the power, take the power back, fight the man. She's got rage against the machine going in her head. I got it. I do, I love rage against the machine. Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me. But which I listen to it, I'm skiing down, man. It's great. Um but you know, this is one of my questions is like, and again, this is another thing that I think the media should really be looking at is is there another way? I mean, did we start down this path with the idea of AB 797 and having ourselves become more community driven as opposed to relying on top down? And again, I know people are gonna say, wait a minute, isn't this what Trump's saying? And but is there some validity to this idea that maybe we start to break down some of these power systems by creating a third path so that we're not in this opposition that you're talking about? Where, you know, if we don't like it, let's do it ourselves. And you know, and those that have been reading my Substack in the last week have noticed that this is sort of a theme that I'm really looking at. And I don't say we necessarily tax billionaires, billionaires don't want to pay a tax to, you know, and again, I think there's gonna be questions on that from a legal perspective, but even if it got through, wouldn't you want to say, look, you can either pay a tax to the government or you can take that money and invest it using it through community-based options, like, hey, let's rebuild a town. You got a billion dollars, you can help us get there. You know, like and yeah. I you know, and there's the money. All I'm saying is like there's another way to get there. We don't have to rely on government. We default to government because that's what we know and that's what's easy, but it doesn't have to be government to do all this. And you know what? For generations, it wasn't government.
SPEAKER_01:And it there's, and I think it's important to posit that by saying there's intelligent, sensitive ways to do this through private funding mechanisms, like some of those, again, you know, that we've seen outlined in some of the legislation that that was proposed. Um, that does not mean selling to the highest bidder and slapping logos on businesses and all of this. Like there's a way to do this. No, I know, but I think it's important for the listener to know that. No. That we're when we talk about private funding, that we're not talking about, you know, sell off the town to the highest bidders and sell it to corporations. Exactly. No. But there are absolutely other ways to get this money here, you know?
SPEAKER_00:Well, and that's the thing is you could set it up in a way that is quasi-governmental, like, you know, where it has accountability to the town, where you can have multiple entities doing multiple prep tasks, where it doesn't have to be just one single entity doing it all, because quite frankly, we've seen what that leads to. And it it really does affect if we have to hold it accountable, but it's the only game in town, it's too big to fail.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And then what?
SPEAKER_01:So I think because we have so many questions, and we probably touched on about a dozen of our 40 plus. Um, and we cannot talk for hours. Well, we can talk for hours, but we won't do that to you. Um Steve, what do you think this bodes or portends for the midterms next year and for bigger our elections when we're going to see a lot of shift and change in 28? Who owns this, who doesn't own it, you know, who's made or or ruined by this?
SPEAKER_00:Honestly, I think people are afraid of it. I I I mean, to be brutally honest, I don't think an elected, I don't think the electeds today truly want to own it. And I think they want to own what they can do to get there, you know, to to take care of their constituents. And I mean, could and that's a multiple layer question of what a constituent is. Um, but I really don't believe any of them want to take this on and put it on their shoulders and atlas their way through this.
SPEAKER_01:Right, because it's too big and it's too much. I think it's messy. I think as I say, messy and and likely to fail, and you're left holding the bag.
SPEAKER_00:Well, here's the other thing. Yeah, because you know, this is the thing I try to explain to people about electeds, is they spend their whole career getting to this moment. You know, they they invest in themselves more than anybody, right? Their brand is them. And so they're fear to many of them, it's more of a loss perspective than a gain perspective. You need somebody who's on the outside who doesn't give a shit, to be honest, to take this on their shoulders.
SPEAKER_01:And I I I but I think the rewards not someone who's getting ready to prepare to run for mayor again. I'm just saying. I I think we need it, but we don't need it.
SPEAKER_00:I think the rewards are huge. And I think whoever has the balls to do it can redefine so much because the system is in it it's it's in a stasis right now. You know, look at the swings between 20 well 2020, 2024, 2025, 20. I mean, the cycle is shortening because the electorate is saying they're not getting what they want. And Altadena, in and of itself, is a great example of exactly what's failing. And I think if somebody were to stand up and say, I got your, I got an answer, I'm gonna need a little bit of time because it's gonna take some time. These are complicated questions, but here's my plan. And my plan is to do bring wealth, my plan is to bring accountability, and my plan is to fight for the community, to see that this is done in a way that allows everybody to get something out of it, to leave with dignity. I mean, if you're gonna have leave you with that dignity that is so important. That's a no-brainer.
SPEAKER_01:It is, but how do we get there? Because our current electeds can't seem to pull it off. So, I mean, how do we get there?
SPEAKER_00:Because they have to learn how to do it, and it's teaching an old old dog new tricks at a time when it has to be done quickly.
SPEAKER_01:And it's high stakes. This is a high stakes. High stakes and it's high speed high stakes. You this there's no room either for error or for hesitation. I would actually argue there is room for the yeah. There's room for error. There's not room for hesitation. Correct. You can figure it out as you go, you can fuck it up a little bit and and as you go. Exactly. I think I think that is fair and reasonable. I certainly felt that way. I know for me in the first few months after the fire uh fire, I've a I had a lot of grace for the county because this was unprecedented. No one had a plan for what we were looking at, and they needed a few months to get their ducks in a row. But it was after that that I I kind of got a lot more critical because after that it was like, okay, guys, you you should be able to get your shit, your house in order at this point.
SPEAKER_00:Well, it it I think it's a question of why it has not happened. But you have to want to govern. I mean, you have to want to be in that position. You have to want the pressure. It's not just accolades.
SPEAKER_01:Nope.
SPEAKER_00:You know, that's God knows they want that.
SPEAKER_01:We know that from all the press. I've never seen so many press ops. Good God.
SPEAKER_00:But it's it and that's the thing that's so sad about it is that it's you have to want the pressure. You have to want to make that difference. History is not made by people who just want accolades. History is made by the people who come in and actually take the bull by the horns and do something.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:And not created by PR, but actually do it.
SPEAKER_01:Which gets us to, you know, looking forward, what is the real solution? And is it just incorporation? I mean, is that the only real solution or is there another path? I don't, I honestly, I'm asking that as an honest question, and we're probably not going to fully unpack it at the bottom of this episode today. But um, I think that is still remains the question. And, you know, um, I've I've had it, you know, off record, even from people inside the county machine that uh multiple people that the only answer for us is to incorporate. And that's what we're gonna get.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, but how do you get there? Right. And how do you do it? And I think, you know, there are so many pieces and parts going against us. And this is why I think that back to the T the narratives. I think you have to be able to tell the story, and we have to pull the string. And you know, I tried to do it with the Substack. I've tried to do it as much as I can.
SPEAKER_01:It's just a little, I think it's a little obtuse for some, but yes, you have to it's a little bit of it's a little bit inside baseball for some folks who are listening or and or reading in this case, yeah. Yes.
SPEAKER_00:And I'm sorry, but you know, it also has to be that way because how else do you do it? I'm not a journalist. That's why it was there to be the breadcrumbs, not to be the whole thing. But I think really what it comes down to is I think people just want a government that meets their, meets them where they are. And I think that that's really what it comes down to.
SPEAKER_01:It does.
SPEAKER_00:And I think everybody's tired of fit in.
SPEAKER_01:Well, we are, and I mean, I swear they're counting on this. It's like we're all worn down.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but I think you know, but you have to fight now because this is the most this is the most crucial time. It's a you're running a marathon, you used to run marathons.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. And I've said that repeatedly this year. This one's a marathon, not a sprint. And you know we're legs of the race that are a sprint. But that's the funny thing. This one's a marathon.
SPEAKER_00:You know, and I was thinking about that Prop 50 thing, and you know, Prop 50 was a sprint, and that's why you you have room to maneuver.
SPEAKER_01:I actually want to wrap up on that. We didn't start this episode with kind of a roundup of news because we had such a heavy uh news cover in the last episode.
SPEAKER_00:Are you gonna make me eat my words now?
SPEAKER_01:Something that came up.
SPEAKER_00:I still believed it was wrong philosophically.
SPEAKER_01:Something that came up this morning was um the fact in in today's uh breaking news and today's um is is our record date is Tuesday, uh November 18th. But one of the things that came up was um that Prop 50, you know, well, as it relates to Prop 50, Texas's redistricting bill and their redistricting move that was made to increase Republican seats was just shot down and overturned.
SPEAKER_00:Well, by the way, it was stayed.
SPEAKER_01:It was stayed by their, uh well, which means suspended by their um their their courts, not like the Supreme Court. Uh it is a federal court, but it's a Texas judge and the federal court.
SPEAKER_00:No, it's so it's federal court. So the it was the court, it was the basic district court, and then it'll go up on appeal, and then it'll go to the it will, and then it'll go. But it's but the fact is it's it's on hold now, which is a tremendous blow to I mean, the Trump administration's had a bad week. They've had a bad month. I mean, ever since November 4th, it's gotten really gnarly.
SPEAKER_01:And I mean Man, I opened my social media the other day and I was like, open social media. Clint Trump, you know, is given uh Clinton a blowjob. I briefly think this is entirely plausible for a thousand reasons that I don't want to compliment off social media immediately. I'm not going to step stepping away, stepping away.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but I would say, you know, this is it, those again who read my substack know that I was writing yesterday about Indiana giving Trump the middle finger. And, you know, whether whether Prop 50 or not gives the Democrats the House, I still believe it was wrong. I might be wrong that maybe this might be the difference maker. It was the third. And I, you know, I'll eat my words on that. I've been wrong before.
SPEAKER_01:I'm always happy to be wrong too. Uh, I think it'll be interesting to see how it shakes out because you know, if it if theirs gets shot down, what's to say that other redistricting attempts won't also be shot down, that even Prop 50 may be found to be unconstitutional, and that we get shot down, and that ultimately this was all just a failed effort that was nothing more than really a PR move for a particular governor who'd like to be president. Just saying.
SPEAKER_00:I no comments. I would just like I again, I just follow the money.
SPEAKER_01:Or in this case, the power, because the power is money.
SPEAKER_00:No, um money follows power.
SPEAKER_01:It's all the all of the above. They go together.
SPEAKER_00:So all right, so that was that was quite the episode there, Sean.
SPEAKER_01:It is an episode.
SPEAKER_00:Um I hope I hope everybody's not like overwhelmed going, holy shit, I just listened to a Steve sub Substack.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, we did do a little of that, and um, we'll find a way to keep it light in the next episode is a palette cleanser. I don't know how light we can be with the topics of conversation every try, but we're gonna end the line. That's true. We are going to listen, uh, wrap ourselves up on a positive note, um, a bright note with some things happening in the community, a little, you know, our small business shout-outs. We only have so many small businesses to shout out because so many are gone. But um, there are some good things happening in particular this weekend. So this weekend, um, Rhythms of the Village, who, you know, they did lose their brick and mortar shop, but they're still growing strong in the community and online. Um, they're having their annual village fall festival, um, which is really it's like a celebration of culture and community. And it's a really beautiful event that I encourage everyone who can go to to go to. That is going to be this weekend on the um Saturday the 22nd. Is that is the 22nd, Saturday or Sunday, Steve?
SPEAKER_00:I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:Steve, why doesn't Steve have a calendar in front of him when I need it? It is Saturday. So be sure for our listeners I got that right. So Saturday the 22nd, we've got the Village Fall Festival happening from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. And that's because of obviously it cannot be at rhythms of the village as it typically would be. It's going to be at uh Muir High School on Lincoln. Um, on the same day, because um the original event was postponed due to rain. The Mariposa Junction reopening is happening, and that's you know, multiple businesses. That's the block that includes Sideco, which is a cute little kind of retro boutique on the corner of Lake in Mariposa. Um, you have, of course, Betsy, which has been open. Um, you've got um uh Miss Miss Dragon printing, uh Carciofi stationery shop. Um We talked about this last week. We did, we talked because we talked, well, we talked about it a couple weeks ago because we talked about the grand opening event that was supposed to be happening on this weekend, but they got rained out. Uh so it's now on Saturday the 22nd. Okay. So that's the point of mentioning it again. All these businesses are coming back for their um grand reopening, which is going to be quite a big block party event this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. So, you know, come to Altadena, go to the Mariposa Junction reopening, go to the uh Rhythms of the Village Fall Festival. Um, and um congrats to Tyler Wells at Betsy, um, who just got named um one of Eater's best new restaurants in America.
SPEAKER_00:America.
SPEAKER_01:America. Wow. Top new restaurants in America.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, it's good, but Betsy made that list.
SPEAKER_01:Hey, I know Altadina, baby.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:So um other than other than that, you know, that that's where we're at. So we'll see you on the next episode. We'll see you next time, next week. Um, I'm Shauna. You can find me at beautiful Altadina um on Instagram, Substack, and our private um community-only Facebook group, Sanois Neighbors. It's uh if you lived here on January 7th, come join the group. If otherwise, um find one of our subgroups or find us on one of our public spaces or a public page. And you can find Steve on Substack.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah, the Alta Policy Wonk.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. Um, he is very prolific there. And as always, if you have questions, comments, um, anything that you would like to hear us address on the show, um, by all means send us an email, beautifulaltina og gmail.com. Until next time.
SPEAKER_00:Take care. Thank you.