Living History

Steve is back from Washington, DC, and we open with a wrap-up of his second recent trip to the capitol — including what’s being discussed, what still isn’t, and why decisions being made right now will shape recovery here and far beyond Altadena.

We also tackle the latest funding twist: CDBG-DR money is on hold, adding more uncertainty to an already slow and uneven rebuilding process.

One thing feels undeniable: we are living history right now — on multiple levels.

Media Roundup

The whistleblowers are coming out.

We dig into major new reporting from LAist and the Los Angeles Times, including revelations that raise even more questions about the official response to the Eaton Fire.

Stories discussed include:

• A county employee allegedly with “a long history of sleeping on the job” was overseeing emergency workers sending evacuation alerts during critical moments of the fire, according to a whistleblower complaint filed by Nick Vaquero of the County Office of Emergency Management.
 • New reporting that officials considered warning Altadena earlier — but chose not to because the situation was not yet considered “life threatening.”
 • A look back at the Los Angeles Times’ comprehensive fire coverage hub, which collects key reporting on the fires and aftermath in one place.
• Why these stories matter, what they reveal about decision-making, and why public trust continues to erode.

Power, Policy & Ongoing Chaos

We also touch on:

• Edison executive pay and record profits, now drawing scrutiny across multiple outlets
• Insurance back in the spotlight
• The return of Zone 0 debates even as many pockets of Altadena were clearly helped by mature trees, not harmed by them
• Prang’s SB 1352 Legislation
• La Viña HOA drama and new tensions at the Country Club
• LA County’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and the virtual kickoff meeting on April 8

On the Ground in Altadena

We talk about driving around Altadena and the unsettling feeling that history is being written in real time and not always for the better.

Meanwhile:
 • Dirty soil concerns continue
 • Code enforcement appears absent in the rebuild
 • And according to the County, nearly everything is now a “civil matter”

We also discuss the County’s shiny new Altadena Road to Recovery StoryMaps.ArcGIS rollout — a polished PR exercise that often feels disconnected from the reality many residents are experiencing on the ground.

Small Business Shout-Out

This week’s shout-out goes to the Altadena Library Goes Mobile initiative with the Curiosity Connection, helping bring library services directly into the community while the main branch rebuild moves forward.

And a reminder: Beautiful Altadena Office Hours continue every Wednesday from 11am–1pm at a rotating Altadena coffee shop near you.

This episode was recorded on March 26. 

Transcript

Shawna 0:02

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whenever you're listening. Welcome back to After the Ashes, the beautiful Al Tigna podcast on LA fire recovery, uh, through a public policy lens. Um, this is your co-host, Shauna. We're recording this episode on Thursday, March 26th. Um, and I'll say we're back because we last recorded on March 3rd, 4th, something like that.

unknown 0:25

Yeah.

Shawna 0:26

Uh March 4th. Yeah, it's been a minute. It's been a month, right? Yeah. Oh my gosh, what a month it's been.

Steve 0:32

Well, we also got to get these things up. I mean, we've had some issues getting that done, the technical difficulties.

Shawna 0:37

Well, we had some technical stuff, but I think we've we're, I think we're beyond our technical issues. But now we've just also had a week, a month of travel, sick, multiple people in the hospital, multiple hospitalizations between multiple cities, you and DC, me on a couple of trips. Yes, you and DC twice, me out of town twice, separate of the hospital out of town business. Um this month has flown by in a very curious, strange way. Steve, I was gonna tell you that this morning, this sums it up. I woke up from yet another nightmare because it that's my thing now. I'm having nightmares. And um, so if anybody has a great therapist that works specifically on that, uh, I could probably use that referral. But this morning, I I laughed out loud at this nightmare. I woke up and I was like, oh my gosh, I was I dreamt that I was on vacation in hell. I was literally in hell, and this was my holiday. And um, I was very late for a massage or a spa sauna situation, and I was like so bummed that I was tardy as usual.

Steve 1:46

And then I try to think about how that massage or sauna would go in hell.

Shawna 1:51

Well, it was a third apparent in my mind in my dream as I woke up, it was like a three-demon massage, and I want I needed to know what that was and not miss out. Uh, but I was gonna, and then I had someone else telling me that like. I think that's something else. By the way, I just have to get to the punchline. Right before I woke up, I was also with like with someone. It was like it was a friend who was performing, and they were like, Oh, you know, you're you're gonna be late now, you're gonna don't miss the cabaret tonight. And I was like, where is it? They're like, Oh, it's at this theater and it's like on the river. I was like, what river? They're like the big one, just look for the blood.

Steve 2:25

Okay, Shauna.

Shawna 2:27

And then I'm watching it last night. No, it's nothing to do with what I'm watching. This is my life. Like, I think that going to hell would be a fucking holiday, Steve. That is the takeaway. Uh, I don't think it takes a it actually doesn't take a rocket scientist to dig deep into that one. What a month. So, where do we even begin? Should we talk about? I think we should talk about uh I think there's a lot of local stuff, and then there's a lot of like No, there is, there is, but I think before we even dig into all of that, let's just briefly touch on um wrapping up your latest, because you know, Mr. Sachs, you went to Washington again.

Steve 3:01

I thought we were gonna say Mr. Sacks Mr.

Shawna 3:04

Sacks goes to Washington. No, that was the last episode. We had that right before that. Was our last episode was taping when you were in DC.

Steve 3:10

Yeah, I know that. I'm just trying to remember had I gone up to the hill?

Shawna 3:15

Yeah. Yeah, I think so. But I think that now it's time to like do the recap now of like, you know, it's like where we were in the last episode when you got there. Well, the bill passed the Senate.

Steve 3:26

Yeah, the bill passed the Senate. Now it's back to the House. Anybody who's been reading the Substack, you know that.

Shawna 3:33

Give people who don't read the Substack and haven't necessarily listened to every other episode a quick and dirty.

Steve 3:39

Those that have and do, you know, the those people that are just, you know, wanting to gouge their eyes out while reading my stuff. Um, yeah, so the bill's in the Senate. It went to the Senate, cleared the Senate, back at the House, but there are some additions from the Senate side that are not very palatable for the House. Um the president, who is the only person who can probably get the House to move on this new bill, has kind of thrown his hands up. He's more concerned with some other things. Yeah. Um can't imagine what he was all hot and heavy on it, got it through the Senate.

Shawna 4:11

Could he could he be at all remotely concerned with the fact that our own treasury declared the nation insolvent?

Steve 4:18

I don't think he cares. This is a guy. I mean, how many times have you gone bankrupt? Like he doesn't give a shit about that. Um so yeah, I mean, so the bill, it's gonna sit in conference, or they have to decide. The quickest way to move it is to take the Senate version, but the House doesn't want the Senate version because there's things in there that are unpalatable to them, including the Senate version included the CDBGDR authorization, which doesn't mean anything other than just authorizes it. Um but you know, where it goes from here, who knows? It could move. There's still what nine months till the end of the session. So but uh the likelihood is it probably goes to conference, they probably hammer out some of the things, and because there are bigger issues in there, like the corporate housing piece that um you know, whether corporations can own houses, uh that those are the contentious issues. I mean, CDBGDR really doesn't matter, and it could be a throwaway and they could take that out tomorrow. Yeah, I I think the bigger issue is will the delay force some form of action because they're not gonna I mean, even if they did this, they still have to go through the appropriations process. Um, what I had heard you know off the record was the the capital stack part is very interesting in that there are they're looking at options to trying to not necessarily incorporate it in the bill itself, but through the process. Um I and the fact they left the C D BG piece out tells me that either it's gonna go and it's gonna go through or it's DOA. And I don't think either way it really affects Altadina that much. Other than the fact we still need the damn money, and no matter what happens, this is still slowing us down.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

So yeah.

Shawna 6:11

Let's hope it comes, right? Before it's too late. I mean, we're in month we're 14, heading into 15, and and in many areas it is too late, and we're gonna get into some of that a little later in this uh well.

Steve 6:22

The irony is the longer it goes, the more optionality, ironically, it's giving us. And it might end up, as readers of my stuff are realizing the last couple days, this could end up going bad for the people that are holding it up in the first place. Like it may end up undermining a lot more than just who knows? Like take your win, lock it in, and move on. And they didn't do it, and they're just keep pushing things, and you know, law of unintended consequences. That's the thing about politics. They elongate for a reason, and the deal consist consistently changes. And I I think looking back in a year or two, it's gonna be really interesting to read through the substack. Like, I'm already doing that, you know, the looking back at a year from now, from a year ago, right, and how far it's come and how much has changed. And I think the study will be elongation what were the and what what happened because things took too long. You know, sometimes you just take your deal and you move on and you you figure out how to cut to get it to happen, and um, you know, you keep going after this thing and wanting it a certain way, it might end up being less beneficial to you than you could ever realize. So that's that's the essence of it right now.

Shawna 7:36

Well, I guess uh we stay tuned, huh? Wait and see how it goes. And we've said this on so many, so many levels. We're living through history, right? I mean, I don't want to jump around topics too much um here for for the in the context of our podcast. But I mean, you and I have spoken about this fact that um, you know, it's like if you look drive around town, right? And you look and see what's happening around town and just how rapidly the transformation is taking shape and other things are happening. We're gonna get into those a little deeper, but um it in this episode and the next episode. But um, you know, we're living through history that is happening, you know, in some respects too slowly, in other respects too rapidly. And um, you know, like the the type of evolution that generally happens in a community across decades, right? Decades to see a community completely change in in demographics. Um, you know, and frankly, it's it's the gentrification story, right? Like gentrification is not an overnight process that happens generally over decades as a community is uh transformed for various reasons. And it's only when you see it really hit an inflection point that be it becomes, you know, uh a media conversation, a social conversation. Um, and people are like, oh my gosh, what's happening and how did this happen? But but that is a decades-long, long process. But for us, that's not it, you know. It's happening, it's happening, it's compressed, it's happening. It was, of course, it was, it's always happening, it's always a process. But now it's just been, you know, like pushed into hyperdrive. I mean, like what we're seeing is um, you know, it's decades of evolution inside of a year or two. It's absolutely wild to be part of. And I don't think any of us will fully comprehend uh the weight of all of it, um, and be able to really kind of until we can really take that that outside view until we get, you know, further ahead of it, even like with the pandemic, right? We're still we don't fully have a good sense of all of the impacts of the pandemic or of COVID itself, um, and we won't for decades. But um, you know, I think that is what this is, and it's it is we are living history.

Steve 9:50

Well, and you know, I I think I did a post on this probably about a month ago or in the last month, you know, the idea of journalism in the media is usually the first draft of history, right? And then we look back on the events with hindsight over time. But the interesting thing about this philosophically, I think it will be something that I'd like to see more about, is the idea about even though journalism in the media is the first draft, it also influences the outcomes that will ultimately be. So as they shape the events, you know, that's why what the media has done or not done in this experience that we've had has been so critical. Because with them, where they weigh in and put their finger on the scale really has a an effect on what the next steps are and how the the process marches along. And I mean that's a that's a very powerful thing. So just something to consider as we continue to discuss these issues.

Shawna 10:52

No, I agree with you. It is a lot, it's a lot to consider.

Steve 10:55

There's a lot of things that are going to come from this experience that years from now we'll look back, whether it's gentrification, whether it's the political process, whether it's you know, the the media and how the media interacted with it, how you know what the end results become, how new tools are being used. Like many people in Washington are like, dude, your Substack has totally changed the way these issues are being presented because you're taking it in a different direction than ever been done before. Now we have a podcast on top of it. In real time, we're discussing how these processes are working and we're taking, we're compressing that that that that evaluation that typically is done three to five years down the road. We're doing it in real time. We're saying, well, here's what the media is writing, and now here's what that means. And you know, adding that color and shaping that secondary narrative. That I I'm not sure this has been done before, not in a disaster that I'm aware of. And then helping to shape the political and the policy direction of it. I mean, I I've it nobody everybody has said to me this is very unique, the way we've approached it.

Shawna 12:10

You're a prolific writer, Steve.

SPEAKER_02 12:13

I I don't care about the book.

Steve 12:14

The book has written itself. You've written the book. Well, I've done it because we have to.

Shawna 12:20

Like I know, no, I know. We've talked about it. I get it.

Steve 12:23

Honest is to keep throwing these things out there. That's why those fictional depictions are really fun, because it's sort of like I get to get in the room and say what I would have otherwise said. And you know, it's it's about highlighting the things that nobody wants to say in officialdom. And again, going back to the trip in Washington, that's what people like is that you know, this is a chance for you to have the discussion without anybody ever having to go on the record. And, you know, that's a big thing because when you walk into an office, there's an official record. There are people in those offices that recognize you, that know who you are. They're gonna pass that message back for whatever political intent it is. You know, oh shit, Steve Sachs is in the office now. What's he doing? You know, um, you know, it gets back to California and it gets back to the county, it gets back to the governor's office, it gets back to whomever wants to know. And they're like, Well, what's that all about? Well, you know, and it's just you can engage anonymously with the whole process and never have to have that conversation unless you want to make a point, unless you invite somebody in, and then you want them to know. And it's a fascinating shift in how you can utilize the tactics that are typically used in politics to drive messages in a different way. And I think it's been a lot of it. That's to me the thing from Washington was a lot of that. Was this a continuation of something? It's not your typical you walk you. Have you ever been to Washington, Shauna? Have you ever gone on one of those?

Shawna 13:52

No, we talked about that. We talked about that when you FaceTimed me walking past the White House.

Steve 13:57

Yeah, it's true. Yeah, that's right.

Shawna 13:59

But I mean Yeah, that's that looks like Fort Knox right now.

Steve 14:02

Well, that's because of doing construction. But I mean, the the interesting thing is is you know, 99% of people fly into Washington. They do either if you're gonna do a fly-in, what they call. So like you have a cause that you're involved in. So they bring everybody into the cause, you go meet with your congressionals, and you sit down and you go through the process and you tell them your story, you tell it to the staff, or maybe you get invited in, maybe not. But you know, you go through the process and you come in and then they go, okay, well, that's nice. And then you leave behind a one pager. And that one pager has whatever the issue was with your 10k piece salient character points or whatever it is. And then you walk away, and then that ends up in the file somewhere, and you know, eventually after three years, it gets put in the rectangular file. Um, or the you know, the the circular file then. But you know, it's uh it's interesting when you can change the process and you see them and they go, Oh, this is different. This is this is unique, this is not the way you normally do it. And that's that's changing, that changes the dialogue, and that's what we've been able to do in many respects. Sorry, I didn't mean to go on this because I know you want to talk about it.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

No, it's okay, it's okay.

Steve 15:11

But anyway, that's it.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

That's that's it. I don't want to cut you off.

Steve 15:18

No, you you look bored, so I'm gonna stop.

Shawna 15:20

I'm not I'm not bored. Don't forget, and I mean this is the funny thing about being on video um and and video recording in addition to audio, is that like half the time I'm like my my brain is is here, but it's also like on the next three topics and making sure all of our little links are set up and everything else as I'm look I'm like producing this thing on the fly while we tape, uh, which curiously works really well for my ADHD.

Steve 15:44

I was gonna say, this is total ADHD. I I recognize it because I have enough kids and family members with it. I'm like, oh, just lost the thread. Okay, stopping now.

Shawna 15:52

No, I am I yeah, I am undiagnosed ADHD, but I've now realized that like everything I've done, the way I set up my businesses in the past, you know, as an entrepreneur, all of that is like was really to um create a high functioning system for someone whose brain does not function like everyone else's, which it took me a really long time to realize.

Steve 16:14

I'd say the good thing about having kids with ADHD is you typically are able to try to get the message into that very limited window that you have, you know, because you're like well, I'm not I don't feel like that, but it there I there was a really okay.

Shawna 16:28

I'm not gonna take us too far down a rabbit hole, but for anyone listening and for you, it was actually it's fascinating. There was a really interesting piece at uh was it National Geographic, I think it was an at geo piece, talking about how um scientists uh through a bunch of you know of their data are now determining, look mapping the brain, that there are various types of ADHD, that like we're lumping it all as like one thing, like ADHD in this one you know bucket. But their ADHD that we you know treat unilaterally in one way is actually very likely multiple different uh neurodivergencies and that they impact completely different regions and centers of the brain. And it was um, anyhow, it's fascinating. So you should look that up. I'll send you a link later, but like anyone listening should look that up. Um, because if you're interested, or if you happen to have a family, you know, yourself, a child, a family member who um is anywhere on that ADHD spectrum. It's kind of interesting, really interesting.

Steve 17:22

So, anyhow, with that it's amazing how you realize later on in life, you're like, oh, I have a little bit of that.

Shawna 17:29

Oh, yeah, you know, yeah, I've known, I've known my my father and my half brother were both diagnosed and medicated. I am uh not, you know, I have mild dyslexia, like weird stuff like that, but I didn't put it all together until like, oh I just have poor grammar.

Steve 17:45

That's what it is. I have very poor grammar.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

I don't believe that.

Shawna 17:49

Oh, come on, you make a couple of typos, but I'm not I'm not buying it. You know, you just sell me a better story than that. All right, should we jump into the media roundup? Yeah, because there's no shortage. So I know that I said 2026 would be the year of the lawsuit, and I stand by that. 2066 will be the year of the litigative litigation, however, like everybody's suing everybody, which has already come to pass. But I will also want to second that and add to it, it is also the year of the whistleblower, and God bless the whip whistleblower. Um, I'm aware of a couple big whistleblower pieces that'll hit the media in a few months, but um the what stuff that's already hit LAist, you know. Um, wow, this was big just a week or two ago. The person who fell asleep. Oh my gosh. The LA story on someone asleep at the wheel.

Steve 18:37

Um the allegation was that that person has fallen asleep on the job.

Shawna 18:43

But that person also immediately resigned after the fire. Okay, so hold on. An LA County employee who allegedly had a quote unquote long history of sleeping on the job was in charge of emergency workers sending evacuation alerts during critical moments of the Eaton fire, according to a whistleblower complaint filed with the county about the complaint. The complaint was filed late last year by Nick Vacero, an associate director of the county's OEM, that's the Office of Emergency Management, since 2023. Oh, underfunded, understaffed, and compared to any other uh city or county of comparable size, we have like uh nothing, like one one hundredth of the resources. It's insane.

SPEAKER_04 19:24

It's like two employees versus under research.

Shawna 19:28

So county officials say they didn't see the person asleep during the night shift from January 7th to the morning of the 8th, and said they didn't have a track record of sleeping on the job. The person told A LAS that he wouldn't say he never slept on the job in his 38-year career, but it wasn't a regular occurrence. So he did sleep on the job, but anyhow, this guy also, you know, resigned. He left. Um, I think they it it speaks to just what an absolute shit show this has been on every level.

Steve 19:59

But also at the same time, it's really important that the county destinations occurring by people in the county when they've failed at their job and they got a two million dollar payout, or they cash in hundreds tens of thousands of dollars of vacation time when they're being indicted for committing federal fraud while they're in office. Like, I mean, this has never happened in California. I don't know what you're talking about. Sorry, need to be around.

Shawna 20:28

No, it's it's oh my, it's the this shit writes itself. It's crazy.

Steve 20:33

It's like I say no, everything's great. Let's pay what we let's pay more taxes to hire more people because this is the stuff that doesn't, you know, we don't need it more.

Shawna 20:43

Yeah, the answer is like just more tax. Oh my gosh. I ran into um, oh, I I'm the king of the non-sequitur. I'm gonna blame my ADHD. My I I ran into um we'll just say the owner of a local coffee shop and leave it at that. And this person shared with me that they were approached by a petitioner, you know, just someone doing probably a minimum wage job trying to collect signatures, but it was like, oh, could you please um sign this petition for the um LA County Fire Department for a tax, an incremental tax increase uh to you know create additional funding?

SPEAKER_00 21:17

And it was like what do you want more money? No, first, first we have to fix. First we fix, then we'll fund. I don't think anybody has a problem.

Shawna 21:34

I think there's no question that there are areas like that where more funding is very likely in order, but it's a redistribution of funds, not reaching into our pockets for more money, a la the homeless crisis and God knows how many nonprofits I'm using, I'm using hanging ear quotations right now for that. Um, that you know, ends up in the pockets of as it has, you know, with the homeless situation. It's so out of hand.

Steve 21:56

So, anyhow, though, I mean, I I you listen to the uh the interview that. Matt Mahan did on all in.

Shawna 22:02

All right, don't go there yet. We're talking about gubernatorial next episode.

Steve 22:06

The bullet train, he's like 15 billion dollars has been spent on holy shit.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Yeah. Holy shit.

Shawna 22:14

That bullet train was happening in like when I when my family was moving from LA town. We lived in Las Vegas for a while, but when they were moving from LA to Vegas and buying a property in Vegas, before as they were considering the property in Vegas, part of the conversation was that, like, oh, the bullet train should be done soon. Okay. That was in the late 90s.

Steve 22:34

Yeah. Well, that's a different project. That one's gonna be privately funded and not require any of this drama. No, it's it's a mess. It's it's defense contracts on steroids.

Shawna 22:45

Yeah, it's absolutely wild. Um, you know, we say all the time, like, there's plenty of money, it's just where it's going. This is not a matter of setting up money.

Steve 22:55

We have record revenue in California, but let's get more, let's just take more, you know.

Shawna 23:01

And burn it. Let's just go out on the beach and burn it. Let's just like, you know, dance around and probably burn our money.

Steve 23:07

Really quickly, that's what Mahan was saying. It's like he's right. I know it's insane. So yeah.

Shawna 23:13

It's it's nuts. So, anyhow, that was it. I mean, there was another story following that from the LA Times. Uh, they had another whistleblower story uh talking about evacuation alerts and the fact that um officials considered warning Altadena early, but chose not to because the situation was not life-threatening. They didn't think it was a life-threatening situation.

Steve 23:35

Well, it was not just Altadina, it was the entire San Gabriel Valley.

Shawna 23:38

Yeah. No, but this was but this is the same county official, Steve. I mean, I think that's the point. This is the same LA County that has still, to this point, to this day, taken zero accountability and made bigger, bigger issue, made no changes, zero meaningful change. Passing a motion that, oh, we'll think about it. Oh, yeah, we we all agree we should do something. Great, do it. What's happening? Nothing is happening.

Steve 24:03

Hey, administration, you really want to bet you in these guys? Like, seriously. Yeah, you want to model your recovery on any gosh model.

Shawna 24:12

The idea permitting, I mean, yes, we need federal money, we need private money, we need money, but the idea of any of that money passing through the hands of hands of the county that has so mismanaged and neglected us on every level and continues to, which is a whole other thing we're gonna talk about in a bit. I mean, you if you listen to this up to this podcast, you you know the many, many layers. If you're in living in Altadena, you know the many layers. Uh, but wow, it's uh rarely am I like wow, but wow. Um, I think we should talk a little bit about other things in the news um and things that are back in the news, like insurance. I had a super fun three-hour meeting with my latest adjuster and and their manager and my agent in his office, uh, because my situation's so out of hand. And mine is just one of everyone, you know, it's like thousands and thousands of us in this mess, uh, fighting to get money out of our claim. So, yeah, um take it away. Let's I I take it away and let's talk about insurance. And then I want to wrap up the insurance conversation with a little op-ed piece that a neighbor wrote and shared in our group and the beautiful Altonina group. But yeah, please.

Steve 25:23

Where do you want me to start? I mean, the problem hasn't changed any. It's just we need to shift the status quo.

Shawna 25:28

Well, I think no, what we're talking about is the pieces that came up in the press in the last couple weeks.

Steve 25:33

Yeah, it's which part? Like that's what I'm trying to remember. Like, I don't, you know, the press to me is it's more of the same. Insurance is a mess.

Shawna 25:45

It's more of the same, and it's going nowhere. And it's getting there's, you know, uh there's been so much noise. I mean, I was one of the first people at one of those first press conferences, frustrated with the handling of claims by State Farm.

Steve 25:57

But you knew what it was, you know what it is. They're waiting for the SCE meeting.

Shawna 26:01

Oh, yes, yeah, of course. Now we know that. Now we know that. A year ago we didn't know that, but now we know that. And I said that bluntly in this meeting. It was kind of funny to see the faces. They know. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And I think, you know, for anyone listening who doesn't understand that um in my whole statement about everybody suing everyone, um SCE is suing so Estate Farm and all of the other insurers are suing SCE as um as being, you know, like, hey, you're responsible for the fire, therefore you're responsible to cover what we have to pay out on these claims. So, you know, they know that through subrogation, et cetera, they're gonna get their money back one way or another. But now, you know, we're we're pushing as we push further and further into this, and in some ways, closer and closer, we hope, to litigation and settlements for people. Um, they're the insurance companies are like, well, you know, anything that we're still holding on to, all we have to do is hold out a little longer and we don't have to pay this money at all. It's gonna come from SCE. Yep. Uh, so you know, that's kind of what's happening. And I mean, they they know this, they all know it. It's it's you know, it's a business plan. It's uh it is diabolical. The the way that the insurance companies, the mortgage lenders, um, the utilities all, you know, just bleed us dry is just absolutely, it's no wonder I'm dreaming about rivers of blood because it's ours. It's it's diabolical, Steve. So, you know, this this is the letter, the op-ed that my neighbor wrote. She she and shared in our group. She said there should, it was titled, There should be a fair plan. And for anyone who's not familiar with the California Fair Plan, um, the California Fair Plan is what we have long considered the insurer of last resort. So if for some reason you couldn't get, well, that's what it was, right? That's what it was what it was set up to be, it's what it was, it's what it was been called, it's what it's been set up for, was to just be, you know, if you absolutely cannot get any kind of coverage, this the fair plan will ensure that you're covered. However, however, many however, it's structural only. So that means anything inside your house, you're on your own, you need layered coverage, you need another uh uh D I C. Yep.

Steve 28:16

You need another, you want to explain that difference in some conditions. So I did a little research on this this week because I came up. I said, anyway, I have my own opinions on the fair plan, but keep going.

Shawna 28:28

I know, I know, I know. So, well, and I think your opinion on the fair plan has has some legs, but it's not what it is right now, right? No, but like there's what it could be, but it's not what it is.

Steve 28:38

No, but the insurers are now turning it into the last resort, you know, where there's any kind of risk, they're just like, screw it, we'll let the fair plan take it on. I mean, right. The fair plan started.

Shawna 28:48

The thing to understand is that the people who had fair plan are fucked. Like, because they're the coverage is insufficient. The there were there have been tales for years prior to this fire about CFP being nearly insolvent because so many people had been forced into it that if there was ever something significant that happened, like it just did, that they would not have enough money to pay out all these claims, and it doesn't look like they do, or at the very least, they're clutching it, you know, every every penny because they don't want to pay people, people are not getting ALE, they are not, which is you know, the ability to live pay to live somewhere else while you can't be in your home because it's because it's not a real program.

Steve 29:25

That's the problem. Is that it's it's an insurance program, but it's not an insurance program. And I mean, the point is is why not if we're gonna make it insurer, make it an insurer. Yeah. So I'm looking at a piece I wrote on on the 23rd, what was that, Monday?

SPEAKER_00 29:41

Yeah.

Steve 29:42

And it's something about the the growth of the program has gone up 146% since from 2022 to 2025. Now, this is a program that's supposed to be wound down by now, not increased. And the risk has gone from less than$100 billion to over$700 billion since 2022 to 2025. So the risk is out of sight. Yeah. And so what's happening is the insurers are saying, screw it, we're just gonna end up, you know, we don't need to insure the home for wildfire risk. We'll just do it for DNC or DIC, and then we'll take your we'll bundle it with your car insurance and everything else. We'll take the profitable pieces and we'll leave all the dog stuff to the state to eat. And the problem is, is you can't run an insurer like that. If you're gonna run an insurer, you gotta run an insurer with all the different lines. And so that's the problem is that this system is designed, it's again, just like with Edison, public risk, private reward for the insurers.

Shawna 30:43

Yeah, exactly. So I wanna I want to read this. I think it's a good place to cap this. Um, and just how problematic the entire insurance system is in our state, not just in the country, but in the state in particular, um, where you have where you have, you know, ongoing climate change realities, like frankly, the rest of the country. And again, you know, uh with everything that we talk about on this podcast, like our problems today are either your problems right now, if you are in one of the many towns that are in states that have been hit with their your own uh massive climate-fueled disasters, but uh, if it's not you now, it will be you. And so these these realities and what's playing out here is all setting the stage for how these things will be handled um when it happens to another state in another town. And if there are not solutions for us, there are no solutions for you. Um and uh we all deserve better. So, you know, let's let's hear. So Nancy said, you know, there should be a fair plan. Um a spreading regarding a spreading insurance crisis, March 20th. So she was responding to another LA Times story on this, which was the spreading insurance crisis on March 20th. Except for one brief two-year span, our family has been insured by the fair plan for all of the 30 years we have owned our home in Altadena. In addition to the fire insurance provided by the fair plan, we also had to buy a wrap policy to cover damages from wind and water, plus theft and liability. The statement by the American Property Casualty Insurance Association's Mark Sect Sectan, and I apologize if I'm spelling uh pronouncing his name wrong, that you can't depopulate the fair plan if it's competitively priced or if it's priced lower than what's in the market represents a fundamental misunderstanding of this reality. We are in both the public market for our fire insurance and in the private market for the rest of our coverage. Over those almost 30 years, our combined insurance premiums went from about$1,000 a year to almost$6,000 annually. Our home burned in the Eaton fire and we are rebuilding. But I shudder to imagine what our insurance premiums will be in a couple of years. If we fire harden our new homes, we should be guaranteed insurance at a reasonable cost. Even better if the state could provide a comprehensive policy that covers all risks. And by the way, our private insurer for the wrap policy paid us nothing for our fire loss. Nancy Steele, Altadina.

Steve 33:08

So this is Nancy, go read my podcast or go read my Substack. I basically said the same thing you did. And I came to that conclusion independently. I didn't even know you wrote that.

Shawna 33:18

Yep, I didn't either until I read it this morning. So um, yeah, that's uh, you know, this is the situation everyone is being left in.

Steve 33:26

It's well, I and this is the thing that I said, and you know, the conclusion I came to the end of the piece was from a policy perspective, I'd be very curious to hear what the insurers would do if the state were to come in and say, you know what, we're gonna do a whole policy, we're gonna do a multi-line insurer. If you don't want to do insure against the wildfires, you know, we'll let it be at normal rates. You know, this is not gonna be a competitive, but we're gonna be competitively priced and we're gonna offer the same things that you're offering, but we're gonna go pick up your auto insurance, we're gonna pick up your you know, possessions, etc. The other thing that I think and and see if they try to kill it, because if they try to kill it, if you do it under the fair plan, then they might get rid of the fair plan altogether, which is what the purpose of it was supposed to be anyway. And say, okay, then insure and stop complaining that you can't make money. The other piece to this is, and and again, this is the part that I'm really curious about is if this were to go down this road and we were to create our own insurer, you know, will that affect policies? Like, for instance, these two fires, while they may have been climate quote fueled, they were created by man. Yep, right?

Shawna 34:36

They're created by negligence, private humans. Not well, not just by humans, but by a private for-profit utility that happens to be making record record profits. So we're gonna talk about that next.

Steve 34:52

The point is these policies that we're using, and again, uh would we have the same ambivalence toward it if the state was on the hook for the liability because it the state was the major insurer in this area? Or would they be like, you know what, we need to make sure that Edison's shutting down those lines and get taking those non-transmitting, you know, power lines that have been around for 50 years offline. And maybe we're gonna be a little bit more regulatorily, you know, engaged. Same thing with private, you know, it liability insurance. If I'm now auto insuring and I've got private attorneys coming out there and you know doing these frivolous claims, it's not just state farm or USAA or Allstate that's eating it, it's the state. And you know what? Maybe I'm a little bit more diligent in how I allow these policies to be implemented. These are the things that I think people need to realize is that it might actually be good for us to have something like this because then the state itself. Then it has to work. It has to work, and they feel the effects of the failures of their policies or the benefits of those policies where the state starts to make a little bit of money. I mean, I had ChatGPT model it out. Here's the number. If LA County were to do it, do you know how much money we would make in profit on a good on a normal year? 700 million. 700 million dollars at a 40% market rate or market penetration.$700 million is the number that they need to go to raise to fill the big hole that the you know HR1 created for LA County from a healthcare perspective. Now, of course, LA County's never gonna do this, but my point is is like if you can raise that kind of money, maybe you're gonna be a little bit more diligent about the effects of these policies. And back to your point about hardening, you know, is is zone zero really just a catch-all? Like, I know this is uh an issue for you, but I was driving through. Yeah, I drive through I drove through Al Cedina the other day. The areas that have the deadors are the ones that are surviving. Yeah, that's where the houses were survived.

Shawna 37:02

Like exactly. It's you you if you drive around Al Tedina and look at the pockets of standing homes or the you know, even individual standing homes are surrounded by trees and very specific trees. Our California live oaks, our native oaks, and our non-native deadars that did an incredible job, um, the cedars that um that, you know, for anyone who's wondering what those are, go up and down Christmas Tree Lane. That's what it is. Christmas Tree Lane that survived entirely when everything around it is completely obliterated because it was protected by the trees.

Steve 37:34

Or go down Calaveras over by the cemetery. Same thing. Yeah, that's exactly it's just I I think it's time that people realize that, you know, I I'm wondering if that this is the way that our policymakers can start to actually they deal with the consequences of the effect. If they don't have the money they need to fund their program because of their just stupid decisions, maybe they'll be a little bit more diligent to say, wait a second, you know, again, zone zero getting rid of all the vegetation, what are they gonna do when I'm gonna do it? It's insanity.

Shawna 38:06

What are what are we doing about the fact that what are we doing about the fact that we're a heat island? You know, we desperately it's already that we need it.

SPEAKER_02 38:14

I just, you know, I come on guys, get smart.

Shawna 38:20

I I just no one's smart. I how many times have I said this to you? Um, one of the most like disturbing, eye-opening things this entire process is having to realize that you're elected is that these politicians, the people representing you that are supposed to fight for you, that are supposed to, you know, be there to look out for you, don't have a clue. They're more clueless than we are. I I've never it's oh my gosh, they've never been more disturbed.

Steve 38:45

And they work to undermine correct.

Shawna 38:47

It's um, and people are busy, you know, kissing up to them because they think they're going to get favor or they think that they are going to do something for them. And you know, it's just not how the game works, guys.

Steve 38:57

Uh, it's just not they will use discard you when they no longer need you.

Shawna 39:02

Yeah, indeed. Should we talk about the last uh we have it's we're already 40 minutes in, and I know we've got uh we have a whole other topic to cover. Um, I do want to briefly touch on the uh two more major news stories that hit um one because it's it's disgusting, and we need to keep talking about it, and the other because it's just kind of entertaining, and so we will talk about it. Which story is just so disgusting? The executive pay, SCE's uh oh yeah, SCE's executive team getting uh you know significantly.

Steve 39:32

You have a stressful year, Shauna.

Shawna 39:34

Oh, I know, I know. I'm waiting for my stress pay. Where is my 16.6 million annual in stress pay?

Steve 39:41

You know what? When you have public risk, you can do whatever the hell you want.

Shawna 39:46

Holy shit. Yeah, so Pedro Pizarro, who is the CEO of um SoCal Edison, had a nice little uh nice fat little uh pad to his annual salary, in addition to all of his other benefits and his shares and everything else. But his annual salary was bumped up from 15 something to 16.6 million dollars. Oh the rest of the inflation, the rest of well, you can have to see Steve's eye rolling right now. And if you're watching a video clip of this, you'll get to see that. But um uh all of the executive team got significant uh increases in their um wages and their annual salaries, and then separate of that, they recorded and reported um record profits. Where do you get the profits?

Steve 40:34

Oh, because they don't have to pay for the risk.

Shawna 40:37

That's right, they don't have to pay for the risk because we pay for that. Literally, we do, thanks to legislation supported by everyone from Gavin Newsome to Sasha Renee Perez and the rest of our electeds who take money from SCE.

Steve 40:50

You know, sorry guys, you gotta they they ponied up 150 or 200 grand for Prop 50, so they got what they got.

Shawna 40:57

Yep, they got what they got. So the other story this week uh that hit the LA Times was about um this HOA drama playing out in Al Tedina, okay? This HOA drama. Oh my gosh, what is it? It was like, oh, we're sorry you're burnt, we're so sorry your house burned out. The title of the LA Times story was great. It's like, sorry, your house burned down. Uh, here's a$23,000 bill that you need to pay tomorrow. So um this one, um, if you ask the people associated with the so this to give some context, there is a um gated development in Altadena called Lavinia. They have um uh had a little bit of a storied history because of the fact that the private developers who are now a different, it's a different ownership, different developer now, but the private developer that built Lavinia blocked off access to public land and to public trails. And it took a rather significant lawsuit from by the county and the neighborhood and the community to get those reopened and to get access, to have access regained because they wanted to keep their their whole area private. Um, not surprisingly, you know, and those have been, you know, one to two million dollar homes and up for some time, well before the rest of our property values hit that. It's a little bit of orange county in the middle of the year. Yeah, it it is that it's it's I think you know, I don't like to malign that whole community because there are we have great neighbors who live up there, right? I I have friends who live up there, and you know, I don't think that's a that's fair or reasonable, but I also understand how it's such a dichotomy, like it's so out of place, frankly, for where it is. And if you understand Altadina, you understand it's just so incongruent. Well, not anymore. Well, not yeah, it was uh prescient if we'd known, but yeah, uh it's in the past it has just felt very kind of curious and out of place for the rest of the community and the vibe and and kind of what Altadina has been. But um, you know, so so the folks, you know, have felt kind of maligned there in that whole history with the uh trail business didn't help matters. But apparently they've had some hoa drama. Um they play rather, you know, significant hoa fees up there. Not surprisingly, they have a lot of resources, you know, and and grounds and and things to maintain and keep up. Um, and evidently, um, you know, what they ended up having to do was, you know, they had insurance, but you know, like everybody, not enough. And um, so they're faced with having to, you know, uh drop an assessment, not unlike our water mutuals.

SPEAKER_02 43:32

I was gonna say what's water mutuals.

Shawna 43:34

Sound familiar? Sound familiar? Uh, who are passing fees along. Uh, so yeah, it was a$23,000 bill and it was like it's due now. And um, a lot of people were like, you know, we don't have this right now. And so it's become really contentious, you know, with one group of people feeling very strongly that, like, hey, we're all in this together and you should have been prepared and you should know this is gonna happen. And we're all paying it too. So just pay what you owe so we can get the community back and move on and other people. People feeling like, whoa, you know, there should be payment plans, there should be this, there should be that, there should be more transparency discussion. Um, you know, depending on which side you listen to. Uh, I think that LA Times tried to paint a fair picture, but you know, if you hear from the folks associated with the board, they felt it was a very slanted story and were not happy with it, and because of litigation, aren't going to say more. I know they, you know, don't want to say more. But oh my gosh, the drama, the intrigue. There's never any shortage of drama and intrigue, is there?

Steve 44:29

Well, just wait till the town and country club ends up hitting everybody with an assessment.

Shawna 44:35

I wasn't gonna go there, but yeah, so that's the other one that's been playing out in our group, too, where you know, a lot of upset that you're the club's general manager was rather unceremoniously unceremoniously fired. And um apparently someone posted an open letter, a club member posted an open letter to Craig who was let go about how phenomenal he was and pivotal. Like, how many how long was he with the club, Steve?

Steve 44:58

20 something years.

Shawna 45:00

Yeah. And people were really upset by you know, I think there's an understanding that when you're gonna be closed for years and without revenue for years, that's a group that were upset, and there's a group that, you know, and again, I I think there's more to that story. There's always more, but there was an open letter posted on the country club page, and the country club deleted it and did not want it out there, and then they took it elsewhere, including our group, and I don't have that in front of me to read it, but it's been it's been a you know, it's been interesting because it's a microcosm of um, it's been a microcosm of of what's gone on in Al Cedena. Yeah. Yep. And I think it's gonna be, you know, it's a tough one. Uh it's gonna be a really tough one for the country club because, you know, I mean, we talk about this, like the country club in Al Cedena in particular, for those who aren't familiar with the ATCC, you know, it's a beautiful space. They do beautiful events from wine tastings to and wine events to lots of that are open to the public, you know, they're ticketed to lots of weddings, right? You can you can rent the venue. Um, if you have if you ever member, it's very different. If you have a friend who are who's a member, you can be a guest there. You know, uh I chose not to ever become a member because I don't have young kids. But it's not haughty. No, it's not at all haughty, it's very community. But the point is that I think if you have children, it makes a lot of sense. Like if I had young kids who could grow up in that club, I would have absolutely become a member because between the pool, the services, camps, all of that, it would have been worth it. And it would have given them a peer group. And I think that makes a lot of sense. But I share all of that because I understand that, like, you know, they're the country club is gonna be in a really tough spot because all of these family, they're gonna have to wait to find all new membership in a lot of ways. Because by the time in the time that it takes for them to get back, rebuild, reopen, which what are they projecting? Five to seven years?

Steve 46:54

There's like three.

Shawna 46:55

Okay. Well, that's I've heard other numbers from from folks in there, but that what they think realistically will happen a lot, even if it's just three, that's like the years that your kids grow up and they're out. Or a lot of those families have left the community and aren't coming back. So I think, you know, it's tough. It's all tough, and it it speaks to how difficult, you know, this is and and why this will be a completely different town when it comes back, because people can't just sit around and wait and then jump right back in where they left off. That's not real.

Steve 47:26

Yeah, it's it's it's an interesting, it's it's an interesting dichotomy. Again, the it's very different than what's happening west of Lake, but at the end at the end of the day, it's just people lost something that was a can, it was a major part of our community, whether you like it or not. Yeah, 100%, you know, in our area.

Shawna 47:44

So for the east side, for the for for East Altadina in particular. Yeah.

Steve 47:48

Yeah.

Shawna 47:48

Let's it's tough. You know, I think it's a loss. It's a loss. It was a beauti another beautiful historic structure, no matter how you look at it.

Steve 47:54

And it's not gonna be historic. It's gonna look yeah.

Shawna 47:58

I just remembered, um, I you know, I would go there for events and with friends, and um, I think my favorite part of that country club was that one main hall with the big picture glass with pick, you know, kind of glass windows, just a wall of glass that looked out onto our upstairs, that looked out onto our mountain, and it was the most beautiful place to sit and watch the sunset on our mountain and and that orange glow just wash across the whole hill. And it was just, you know, the album as they call it. Yeah, yeah. It's really beautiful to to see. And I was really so I was just really sad to see that go, even as a non-member. Just really sad for the for our community. But I hope that they can figure it out and um and good luck to Craig and good luck to everybody, you know, like him who's been displaced, right? Well, just to everybody who's been displaced. Well, I'm glad, as he should be. So let's, you know, we talked about driving around. I'm gonna move on to our next topic as we kind of like that's like the tip of the iceberg for media in the last few weeks. I'm not even talking about the stories I've been in. I was on a spectrum news story last week about the RV ordinance and allowing people to live not just on their lots in RVs, but on the street in RVs, which has its own kind of its own little kind of tricky bits. It's it's a little bit problematic. Um, but you know, we'll have to, it's gonna be interesting, right? We'll see. We'll see how it all it all shakes out. It's um there's a lot happening. Um, but the thing I wanted to talk about is the fact that the county and their fuckery marches on.

Steve 49:25

That's I was gonna put it more nicely.

Shawna 49:29

I love the word fuckery.

Steve 49:30

It is that's man, that's the theme of this entire somebody from the UK for as long as you have, because you know, he called buggery probably.

Shawna 49:38

No, I he he would say buggery, but the fucker fuckery is all me. I get that one. I give Mr. Beer credit all the time where credit is due.

SPEAKER_00 49:46

Okay.

Shawna 49:46

But yes, 20 20 20 years with the Welshman for sure rubbed off on me. I still say things that, you know, I'm like, oh what?

SPEAKER_00 49:53

Yeah.

Shawna 49:55

So um here's we've talked a lot about the things, you know, where the county has been challenged or has outright failed. Um, and I think we all kind of keep sitting back and waiting for the county to kind of get it together and um, you know, figure their stuff out.

Steve 50:13

They think they're doing great.

unknown 50:14

Right.

Shawna 50:15

Yeah, I know, I know. To the degree that they put out that big PR spin piece that I was like, oh my God, this is where fire aid money, this is where our county man money goes, this is where all the money is going to this bullshit. Um, it was this, oh gosh, if anyone looks it up, Altadina, Road to Recovery, and it's at uh story maps.arcis, which is like, you know, it's a platform that you can use to create data uh-based story story maps that's really awesome, by the way, uh in and of itself. But yeah, this is just like one giant press piece of like, look, what a great job we're doing. And it's so skewed and not representative of the reality on the ground, yet that's the kind of shit that people eat up and believe. Uh, but it's not real. So, you know, actually, before I even get into the rest, there there was that piece. There was also a piece that came out um called A Portrait of Los Angeles County from uh Measure of America, which is another um independent group, independent of the county, completely independent. And the um, I thought one of this this was such a great uh passage before the Eaton Fire, Altadena was one of the most livable communities in Los Angeles County, a racially diverse, well-educated foothill neighborhood where residents earned above average incomes, lived longer than most Angelinos, and had made some of the largest educational gains of any county community in the region over the past eight years. That Altadena no longer exists. A sweeping new LA County report released March 11th captures both sides of that story. The Altadena that was measured in data collected through 2023 and the catastrophe that followed, the full report and interactive data enclosed. I will um, in the show notes, link off to that for anyone who wants to look into it. It's really, it's really fascinating stuff, but it speaks to, you know, the significant county failure again, you know, it's like left to our own devices. We are great despite the county. Um, but here where we are so entrapped in the web of needing to depend on the county for everything, uh, it's the it's the disaster for it's one of the many disasters following the disaster. So the way that that is playing out, you know, right now, that I thought was worth talking about today, because this is shaping up to be another massive media story, um, is that I have been tracking, because again, through my group and people copying me on emails to to Anish and to Barger, uh, for anyone who doesn't know who these people are, this is our county supervisor. It's um one of our heads of public works who is at the head of rebuilding. Um, you know, there's a lot of frustration about what is happening um in county around the rebuild. And in particular, the fact that not just developers, but it is developers, but also just individuals rebuilding homes are um see having things passed by county. They're they're getting past plan check, they are getting past um inspections, they're getting past, you know, building and safety, they're getting past regional planning. These are these are like checking off boxes and going through multiple checkpoints where things that are not code compliant or otherwise problematic are supposed to be addressed. And we already know that, you know, um our CSD, our community standards district, has been tossed. It's toilet paper at this point, it's roadkill, um, in favor of other state um density-minded regulations and codes, including SB9, um, of which I didn't even tell you this, Steve. I had I had someone in the community reach out to me saying, you know, SB9 has played out on our street in a disturbing way. And oh my god, what can we do? And I was like, a whole lot of nothing until we incorporate a whole lot of nothing. It was like the shittiest depressing response to give someone.

Steve 53:58

But well, Palace didn't have to do it.

Shawna 54:01

Yeah, exactly.

Steve 54:02

They got exempted lower risk than us, I guess.

Shawna 54:05

Yeah, that's that was how it got passed. Now county could have fought it, they chose not to, and they want to keep passing the yeah, but they want to keep passing the buck to the state, like, oh, it's the state, it's the state, we can't do anything.

Steve 54:20

Uh that's that's a bunch of BS.

Shawna 54:22

We all know it's BS, but so what's happening now is all it's like it's we've always kind of been the wild west, but now it's like next level, okay? This is what's happening. Um, things are getting built that do not meet code, and that is like on one hand, let's just use like the example.

Steve 54:39

So so the federal government has said that they are gonna buy into the county's permitting process because it's so expeditious and so efficient, and so f the efficacy is so good. But now please go on, tell me what's the same. Yes, yes, the the the I want to make up another the the the efficacy is so these Elvin and your people, if you're listening, pay attention to this.

Shawna 55:02

Oh yeah, well they can pay attention to it when it's a major news story story in a couple weeks, too, because there are so many of these stories. It's it's every day at this point. Um, in a nutshell, what's happening is things are getting passed at multiple stages by the county, as I just explained, that don't meet code or that violate multiple codes. And in the end, when it comes to light that something's wrong, when a neighbor realizes it and calls it out, or even a homeowner realizes, wait, was this right? They go back, or a neighbor goes, Hey, a developer next door did this, and this this can't possibly be okay. They go to county and go, hey, how did you pass this? How did this make it passed? Plan check, regional, building and safety, multiple site inspections. How is it? Here's the punch, the punchline is it's a civil matter. That's it. The punchline is, oh, yeah, you're right. That is illegal. That does violate code, that is problematic. Your neighbor can sue you. Uh, so you'll have to now go to court with your neighbor, the new developer who bought whatever that may be, your contractor, and good luck because they're asleep at the wheel.

Steve 56:16

They are explaining to me the purpose of the building inspector.

Shawna 56:20

Thank you. Explain to me the purpose of having codes if the body that is in place to implement the code and enforce the code isn't doing the job. Now, in Altadena, code enforcement has always been uh complaint driven. And I don't think anyone has a problem with that. If we're talking about you and your neighbor, like the code is a six-foot wall, but you and your co your neighbor agree you want an eight-foot wall, muzzle toe. Fences, good fences make good neighbors. You and your neighbor should have that wall if you agree to it. But if someone is just building something, taking something, doing something illegal, and this is now in a rebuild, okay? This isn't like a down the road thing when you're just making nights with a neighbor, but it is insane.

Steve 57:00

So, you know, I I don't even let me let me give you some stories. In a normal circumstance, if I was screwing around and my neighbor wanted to be a difficult neighbor, you would call up the county, and the county would come in and go, Yep, that's not the code. You need to take that down.

Shawna 57:16

You gotta fix it, you gotta remedy.

SPEAKER_02 57:18

Yeah, but now they're saying we won't even do that.

Shawna 57:21

Correct.

unknown 57:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:24

Our tax dollars at work, you mean all the tax dollars that we spend.

Shawna 57:28

Yep. Where's the money? That's what I say all the time. Where's our money? Before the fire, Aldino was putting in, you know, an estimated$300 million a year to the county coffers in property tax alone. No sales tax revenue, no commercial corridors, no economic, you know, they don't want that economic districts. They don't want it because then we'll be free. They don't want that, we'll be free. But that was that, okay? But yeah, oh, you know. So uh it is beyond disturbing. Like it's hard to even like get your head around how bad it is. It started out a friend of mine had is it hard or is it very easy to get?

Steve 58:06

This is this is not hard. This is it's oh no, it's pathetic.

Shawna 58:09

It's it's beyond. Like it's we'll take forever to give you a permit, but then we'll finally give you a permit after dicking you around left and right. And I I think I shared, did I share that email with you that another community member copied beyond of the county? Oh, you send me all the emails, yeah. I I send you a lot. I do send you a lot because I want you to be in the loop of what I'm in the loop of. Because if you if you don't see this stuff every day, you can't believe it. Like, if I I I can't say it enough. If I were not living it, I would never believe it. So uh let's let's just top line a few stories. This neighbor, um, this is just this is like a setup. She's an elder in our community, multi, you know, decade, decades long resident.

Steve 58:50

I mean, if the LA Times isn't writing this story.

Shawna 58:52

I know. Uh everybody should be writing this story, okay? Going through all of this, she submitted for permits in October. She still is going back and forth. And it the reason that she has had a delay has been a county error. When re when County finally responded to her, so when she finally wrote County and copied myself and a few other community leaders who she knows will will push uh and support her because she was so at her last wit, where she was like, Shauna, please help me. Like, I I don't know what to do or where to go. Like, like, we how are we living like this? Um, and and I actually I gotta pull up her email because some of it is just so absolutely insane. Um they said, oh, oops, you know, it looks like this didn't go through because you there's um because you have some new home plans, but and the utilities don't know where they're going. So we had to wait for the utilities to come back and we're still waiting. But it ultimately took her writing this scathing thing and saying, Hey, I'm going public with this. Um, you know, this is so out of hand. And the response, you know, that she got then was like, Oh, we'll make sure that they they do the review by end of day and issue your permit. But six months she has been waiting, stuck in this limbo over this. And, you know, she wrote, this is what she wrote me. And I'm gonna keep her name, um, I'm gonna keep her name to myself on this one. But she said, last night and this morning, this is this was just a personal message to me. Last night and this morning, I kept rehearsing the ordeals I encountered at the Department of Building and Safety, Altsdena, California office. And here I am advocating for other Eaton Canyon fire victims who are just trying to get home and in doing so are facing the same issues that I have faced in that office. My main request is that the department improve. One would think, given the severity of our situations, the Department of Building and Safety would be efficient and capable in handling the influx of people who have been affected by this terrible disaster. I have included in compassion in this mixed. I focused on professionalism only. Do your job. So, with that said, I find that the Department of Building and Safety is in dire need of leadership, accountability, a plan of action, and teamwork to actually serve. It is total chaos. I hope in sharing this email with you, it will touch your heart and will you will get the attention of the powers that be. And somehow they will implement the necessary corrections, retrain the train the people, or just gut it. Okay, and she's not wrong. So let me uh let me go back, okay. Um, a friend around the corner for me, and these are all stories, just like within a couple blocks of me of friends and who are neighbors who are friends. All right, we're not even getting into the larger part of Al Tadina where it's happening everywhere. She is now um she's on a street called Emerson that um was in the past just one-story cottages, right? Like my street, just you know, a little pocket of historic cottages. Um she has developers on both sides. Yep. Well, she's got one developer, our our good pals at New Point doing the dirty soil business that we've been tracking across the street from her. On one side, uh Feng Sheng Global, who owns a lot of uh developer property all over the city, but now also in Altadena. And then on the other side, um, just this individual uh guy developer who bought the lot, burned out lot next to her on the other side. That guy got um plans approved for a 2,500 square foot behemoth of a house that will max out property line to property line. And the required five-foot easement he used was her driveway.

Steve 1:02:29

Oh, yes, you probably just okay.

Shawna 1:02:32

So when she went to county and said, What the heck? Like the yeah, you you know, my my driveway is not his easement. Um, they said, Oh, well, it's a civil matter. You'll have to pursue him in court. She did. She was like, Oh, I'll sue you all day. I'll sue I'll sue the pants off of you. This guy put the lot back on the market for sale, marking it up by$200,000 because it comes now with quote unquote approved plans, and she's bracing herself to now have to sue um the uh the the uh next person who uh who buys the lot. And very likely the county. When they well, if there's a lawsuit already, but she hasn't filed yet because it, you know, she's because you know, just trying to get her life together and figure out how she's gonna afford to rebuild a house. Um that is one. I mean, I think I shared that like even, you know, on my street, uh a neighbor who I love, really of who's who I consider a friend, and um they had some things that violate code that, you know, impact my property. They had no idea. No idea. And they and I didn't know until my builder pointed it out. And um they also went to County and asked, like, you know, how did this happen? Like, how did it get this far? And and what do we do down? And it was like, oh, well, your neighbor can take you to court. And it was like, well, but how did you let it get this far? I was like, Well, we can't answer that, but it's a civil matter now. That is the party line. My friend who um discovered that the neighbors below her put in an unpermitted retaining wall that is going to be incredibly problematic for her property that sits above, um, went to the county, was told, yep, we can confirm that's an unpermitted wall, retaining wall. She's like, great, so now what? And they were like, Well, now it's a civil matter. Yeah, but like this. So, and this is ones this morning. This is another neighbor friend, and you can't make this shit up. They started out, and I have to say, this person has not heard me say this, has not heard us use this civil matter thing, hasn't heard these other stories, didn't know this. They have been living out of the area and part out of the country since the fire out of necessity, and came back to start working on their lot and wait for it. Her post starts a civil matter. That is all building and safety and regional planning have to say about this. An investor has purchased land behind us. We had our survey done in July, monuments set, marked everywhere. Investor strings his own line two feet south and into our property and making what was three angled points into two, our first two property markers now encapsulated inside of their green building fence. That's right. My property line is now on the other side of their fenced area. Outside, along their fake line, they have now graded and taken tons, literally tons of dirt from our property. They have destroyed the entire grade of our property, the vegetation I had preserved and was watching over, driven all over it, gradealls and diggers, trenches, all over the place. I spoke with their surveyor and mine, both agreed where the lines were. The investor completely disregarded it, even per their own surveyor. No one from the county will do anything. The only thing building and safety will say is it's a fucking civil matter. The investors are out there literally stealing our land. Someone refer me to a good real estate attorney.

Steve 1:05:58

Enough said.

Shawna 1:06:00

Yeah. All right. Uh, this is happening to another. I mean, I can just go on and on and on.

Steve 1:06:04

I I don't think you need to. I think you've made the point. The stories are endless.

Shawna 1:06:08

The stories are endless. This is happening everywhere to dozens of our neighbors. And it's not, you know, yes, it's shade shady shitty developers.

Steve 1:06:17

Record, record processing of these permits.

Shawna 1:06:21

Oh, I know. Record record record speed incomplete cleanup, record speed permits that is that you know, we're permitting anything, so who cares? So let's come talk to me about the pyramid that I'll build on my property because apparently what effects are.

Steve 1:06:36

You know, we'll recall. You know what? Let's do this. We'll we'll we'll we'll get ours back when uh Catherine Barter runs for CEO. Well, maybe.

Shawna 1:06:47

I don't know, maybe. What do we think she's doing? She's not done.

Steve 1:06:50

Who knows? She's not done. We're too small. They don't care. We're just gonna get run rough shot over. She's gonna go and talk about the record rebuild and the record processing and how it's all been done so great and all these stories. Unless the LA Times or somebody picks it up in more than just once. This is this is a nice, you know, they they're not gonna do anything.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:12

Yeah.

Steve 1:07:13

So yeah. It's it's sad. It's sad that we are being re-victimized as Governor Newsom said every day in December again and again and again by our county supervisor and by our county officials. Whether it's C D BG, whether it's this, whether it's vetoing bills that got to their desk, like it it it it doesn't matter. We're getting homes.

Shawna 1:07:35

No, it doesn't.

Steve 1:07:36

For those of you that know strange brew, we're getting hopes.

Shawna 1:07:42

Yeah, it's um it's it's bad. Um it's real bad. And um, I'll close out on this. I think some of this litigation is starting to brew because some of the problematic properties I've been following for other reasons suddenly got fenced and have no work happening for weeks, uh, which makes me wonder if uh yeah. What litigation will hold up your development?

Steve 1:08:05

Well, here we go. Now we're gonna be accused of being nimbies.

Shawna 1:08:08

Uh I wish it were anything like that. I wish it's it's it's just not. So um, in our next episode, we're gonna be talking about a bunch of stuff, including um all the legislation going on for now. Let us um wrap this episode up. Oh my gosh, we're just over an hour. We got to wrap it up. Um, business shout-out, small biz shout-out is gonna go to our library. Not technically a small biz, but we love our library. So our main, our little satellite Bob Lucas library is reopened following its um its facelift, let's shall we say. Um, the um main Altanina Library, our beautiful mid-century structure that did survive the fire. At least, you know, I'm so thankful that did. Guess what saved it?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:55

The trees.

Shawna 1:08:57

Yeah, the trees saved it. The trees saved it. So um in light of that, the um library has something called the Curiosity Connection, the Altadena Library Curiosity Connection. And it is popping up. It's a mobile library and it pops up at locations all over Altadena. It started this month. You can browse books, sign up for library card. They also have like all sorts of interactive things happening. So, you know, we'll add this to our show notes, but they're and you can find it online. But they are at Grocery Outlet and Altadina on Tuesdays from 10 to 12:30. Then they are at Fair Oaks Burger from 3 to 5:30 on Tuesdays. On Thursdays, they're at the Altadina Triangle Park, which is across from the Bunny Museum. And then on Thursdays, they're at Prime Pizza from 2:30 to 5. So um, I love that our library is doing this in the community. And the last thing I'm gonna briefly touch on, I'll probably talk about every episode to remind people is that um we, beautiful Altadina, are hosting what we call office hours and we say, bring your, you know, bring your stories, bring your resources, bring your questions, uh, bring yourselves, can be with your community. That is on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. And we float around various coffee shops in Altadena or Altina adjacent that are Altadena owned. So uh yesterday, this Wednesday, we were at um highlight coffee um in Altadina on Lincoln. Next Wednesday, um, which is April 1st, we will be from 11 to 1 at Lavender and Honey, which is Altadena owned. And then the following Wednesday, um April 8th from 11 to 1, we will be back at Unincorporated Coffee, which is where we've been starting our loop. And um, I want to get Bevel in the mix. I just have to figure out what's going on. I haven't been. The lineup's too. I have been, and I love Bevel, and the space is fantastic. And you can read, go check it out on my Instagram. I did a post there with some really great photos and um love it. Shout out to Bevel Coffee.

Steve 1:10:46

How much coffee do you drink during your office hours?

Shawna 1:10:51

So yesterday, I'm gonna wrap okay. Listen, I'm gonna wrap on this because it's so good. Um, highlight coffee has an as I pineapple lime espresso on it.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:02

Every time you talk about it.

Shawna 1:11:03

Okay, it's so freaking good. Like, I can't have enough of it, but I order it decaf because by the time I get there, I'm usually on my second or third cup, and I actually cannot have too much caffeine. So I'm caffeine sensitive. So, like, this is half calf. I have to like seriously uh watch it. It's like the I have to, it's like they're like drugs. I have to just be really careful.

Steve 1:11:23

It turns out caffeine is a drug.

Shawna 1:11:24

I've been told this is a drug, it is a drug. All right, on that episode, we're gonna on that note, no, we're gonna wrap up this episode. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being with us. Thanks for sticking it out for an hour and 11 minutes because Steve and I didn't record for a few weeks and have so much to talk about. Um, you can find me. I'm Shauna Dawson. You can find me um at Beautiful Altadena on Instagram, on Substack, um at Beautiful Altadena official group on Facebook, which is our um decade, well, decade plus. We're going on more than a decade now. Um 10,000 plus member strong group. Uh gosh, that's just of that group. We're we're 20,000 strong when you put all of our subgroups together, but um, that's half our town. So by all means, and we vet that it's just that that is a locals community group only. We do not have outsiders in that group because as much as we love them and want them to support us, there's lots of other avenues to do to do that. This group, our groups have always been quality over quantity, community members only, because it really is an advocacy group for for the insiders for those of us who are living in this bubble. So um, come find us. If you're an Altina local, you are absolutely welcome. We would love to have you. And you can find Steve Sachs, my co-host.

Steve 1:12:38

At the Alta Policy Walk on Substack. That's the only place you're gonna find me.

Shawna 1:12:43

And and read, read if you dare, if you can keep up. Steve sometimes drops, you know, one, two, three posts a day.

Steve 1:12:49

So you know I try to keep it one to two. Right now, it's just I'm trying to hit hard.

Shawna 1:12:54

Right on. There's a lot to talk about. So with that, we're gonna wrap it up. Uh, thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time.

Steve 1:13:01

Bye now.