In the wake of the devastating Pacific Palisades fire, Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has accused survivors, including former reality star Spencer Pratt, of disseminating "misinformation" and causing further trauma.
These survivors, who have been severely impacted by the fire, have been vocal in their criticism of local and state leadership, questioning the origins and management of the fire.
According to the Daily Caller, during an interview on CNNs The Story Is With Elex Michaelson, Mayor Bass was questioned about her recent announcement that the city had officially issued its first certificate of occupancy to a developer home in the Pacific Palisades.
Responding to this, Bass stated, Yes, but let me just say that there has been a lot of progress. Things have been moving fast. However, people are still out of their houses and so until somebody is completely back at home in their community, its not helpful to hear how fast everything is going.
Bass further revealed that over 340 properties are currently under construction, which represents approximately 5% of the structures destroyed in the Palisades. She compared the situation to the fires in Hawaii two years ago, stating, That means that we are a year to two years ahead of what happened over in Hawaii. We have over 2,000. Weve issued over 1,100 permits for about 600 properties.
However, she expressed concern over the spread of misinformation on social media, which she believes is causing further distress to the already traumatized residents of the Palisades. She said, What has been challenging though has been individuals on social media and not who deliberately put out misinformation that in my opinion just continues to traumatize people in the Palisades by saying no permits have been issued, things are going slow and not acknowledging what actually is happening.
The announcement of the new home in the Pacific Palisades was made public on Friday, with Bass asserting the city's commitment to expedite the rebuilding process. However, the announcement was met with significant online backlash after critics pointed out that the developer, Thomas James Homes (TJH), had initiated its application process about two months before the fire occurred.
Despite this, Bass maintained that the TJH home was destroyed in the Palisades Fire, even though no family had ever resided in the home. When CNNs Elex Michaelson questioned her about this, particularly in relation to Pratt's social media post highlighting the permit history, Bass responded, Well, thats actually not accurate, but Spencer Pratt is deliberately not accurate, but I was not just referring to him. There are several people who deliberately put out misinformation and to me that just continues to traumatize a population that is already traumatized.
Regarding the timing of the permit history, Bass explained that the permit was submitted, but "nothing happened" with it. She added, They resubmitted a permit in April. The April permit is the permit that happened after the fire, obviously, and the property that exists that was on that plot of land was destroyed in the fire.
Records from the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) indicate that the first submission for the TJH property was filed on Nov. 8, 2024. Following this, four additional logs were added to the status history, including corrections issued and building plans picked up on Nov. 25, 2024. By March, the applicant returned to address corrections before the plan check was approved in April.
The Palisades Fire resulted in the destruction of 6,837 structures, including residential, commercial, and other types. This number increases to over 16,000 when considering the Eaton Fire, which occurred simultaneously on the east side of the county and destroyed more than 9,000 structures.
The ongoing debate over the rebuilding process and the spread of misinformation underscores the complex challenges faced by the community in the aftermath of these devastating fires.
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