洛杉矶市长卡伦·巴斯(Karen Bass)发布了一项行政命令，以重建该市在持续的洛杉矶县火灾中失去的家园和企业，迄今为止，这场火灾共烧毁了40，000多英亩，摧毁了12，000多座建筑
该行政命令要求市政机构加快批准即将完工的1 400个住房单元的临时占用，并建立“废墟清理工作队”和“流域灾害工作队”，分别制定废墟清理计划，减轻火灾后山洪、泥石流和泥石流的风险和危险。
该命令还要求市政机构集体加快建筑许可审查过程，要求在提交申请后30天内完成审查。根据该命令，建筑和安全部将在提交申请后的两个工作日内进行检查。
该命令称，对于正在重建的建筑，市政机构将被要求在五个工作日内处理与建筑许可申请和占用证书相关的必要许可和放行。
该命令指出，符合这些要求的重建必须在原来存在的相同位置进行，用于与以前结构相同的用途，并且不得超过以前结构的建筑面积、高度和体积的110%。
巴斯在一份声明中说:“这场前所未有的自然灾害需要前所未有的应对措施，这将加快家园、企业和社区的重建。”“这一命令是清除繁文缛节和官僚主义的第一步，以便围绕紧迫性、常识和同情心组织起来。我们将尽一切努力让洛杉矶人回家。”
收到低音因离开而受到批评当帕利塞兹大火首次爆发时，她正计划从该市前往加纳进行外交访问，并受到批评她的领导能力的批评，特别是她的2022年共和党市长对手里克·卡鲁索(Rick Caruso)，他声称巴斯在悲剧发生时在接受政治采访时“放弃了她的岗位”。
巴斯在野火发生前在社交媒体上发布了关于风暴的警告，她在火灾发生后的第二天，即1月8日星期三告诉记者，她选择了“最快的路线返回，包括乘坐军用飞机。”
金融分析师预测，这场野火“是加州历史上代价最高的野火事件”，高盛估计总损失为400亿美元。
随着整个县的家庭流离失所，野火给已经面临住房危机的社区带来了压力。据加州立法分析师办公室(California Legislative Analyst ' s Office)称，加州，尤其是洛杉矶县，是美国租金和住房成本最高的地区之一，中层住宅的价格是美国中层住宅平均价格的两倍多。
根据Apartments.com的说法，租房者也面临挑战:房地产研究组织称，洛杉矶的平均租金比全国平均租金高39%。
该州解决无家可归问题的困难凸显了高昂的住房和生活成本无家可归的居民比任何其他州都多。
根据美国住房和城市发展办公室的数据，该地区无家可归的个人和家庭的住房供应导致无家可归人数7年来首次下降。
洛杉矶县对无家可归者的时间点估计下降了0.27%，而该市估计下降了2.2%。未受保护的无家可归人口下降幅度更大，县减少了5.1%，市减少了10.4%。
解决该地区无家可归和缺乏负担得起的住房是巴斯运动的一个关键部分，尽管并非没有争议和障碍。
2022年12月，巴斯在上任的第一天就宣布了关于无家可归的紧急状态。
巴斯的第一号行政指令旨在加快数千个经济适用房项目也批评了一些居民将目标锁定在有租金控制公寓的地区，那里的租户将因拆迁和建设而流离失所，或者有可能影响更富裕的指定历史街区。
该计划最近在2024年夏天进行了更新，通过避开历史街区或转移现有租户来限制这些项目的建设地点。这些举措最终被批评为阻碍了建造更多负担得起的住房的努力，并使低收入住房处于不利地位，据当地新闻媒体报道。
Bass的最新命令并没有指出它将如何影响这些经济适用房项目的建设。
自上任以来，她创建了Inside Safe项目，为无家可归的居民提供当地酒店和汽车旅馆的住宿。根据本地报告该计划面临着来自负责为参与者提供住宿的酒店和汽车旅馆业主的抵制，并因被庇护者面临的恶劣生活条件而受到批评。
该项目网站称，到目前为止，已有3600多人入住临时住房，700多人入住永久住房。
总的来说，Bass的办公室表示，它已经将23，000名无家可归的居民搬进了临时住房，并将搬进永久住房的居民人数增加了一倍。
LA mayor issues housing executive order amid wildfires, crisis
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has issued an executive order to rebuild homes and businesses that the city lost in the ongoing LA County fires that overall have so far burned more than 40,000 acres and destroyed more than 12,000 structures
The executive order calls for city agencies to expedite temporary occupancy approvals for 1,400 housing units that are near completion, and the establishment of a "Debris Removal Task Force" and "Watershed Hazards Task Force" to respectively develop plans for debris removal and mitigate the risks and dangers of post-fire flash floods, mudslides and debris flows.
The order also calls for city agencies to collectively expedite the building permit review process, calling for reviews to be done in 30 days following the submission of an application. Inspections by the Department of Building and Safety are to be conducted in two business days of a submitted request, according to the order.
For structures being rebuilt, city agencies will be required to process necessary clearances and releases related to building permit applications and certificates of occupancy within five business days, the order states.
The order notes that eligible rebuilds under these requirements must be rebuilt at the same location where they previously existed, used for the same use as the previous structure and are not to exceed 110% of the floor area, height, and bulk of the previous structure.
“This unprecedented natural disaster warrants an unprecedented response that will expedite the rebuilding of homes, businesses and communities,” Bass said in a statement. “This order is the first step in clearing away red tape and bureaucracy to organize around urgency, common sense and compassion. We will do everything we can to get Angelenos back home.”
Bass receivedcriticism for being awayfrom the city on a planned diplomatic trip to Ghana when the Palisades Fire first erupted and has been hit by critics for her leadership, particularly from her 2022 Republican mayoral opponent Rick Caruso who claimed Bass was "abandoning her post" during the tragedy in an interview with Politico.
Bass, who posted a warning about the windstorm on social media ahead of the wildfires, told reporters Wednesday, Jan. 8, the day after the fire started, that she took the "fastest route back, which included being on a military plane."
The wildfires have been predicted by financial analysts to "be the costliest wildfire event in California history," with Goldman Sachs estimating total losses at $40 billion.
With families displaced across the county, the wildfires have put pressure on communities already facing housing crises. California, and specifically Los Angeles County, has some of the highest rent and home costs in the country, according to the California Legislative Analyst's Office, with mid-tier homes priced more than twice as high as an average mid-tier home in the United States.
According to Apartments.com, renters also face challenges: the average rent in Los Angeles is 39% higher than the national average rent, the real estate research organization states.
High housing and living costs are highlighted by the state's troubles tackling homelessness, with morehomeless residents than any other state.
According to the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development, the availability of housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness in the area led to a decline in homelessness for the first time in 7 years.
Los Angeles County’s point-in-time estimate of homelessness declined by 0.27%, while the city estimated a decline of 2.2%. The unsheltered homeless population decreased by larger margins, with the county decreasing it by 5.1% and the city decreasing it by 10.4%.
Addressing homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in the region was a key piece of Bass' campaign, though not without controversy and hurdles.
In December 2022, Bass declared a state of emergency concerning homelessness on her first day in office.
Bass' Executive Directive 1, aimed at expediting thousands of affordable housing projects, wasalso criticizedby some residents for targeting areas with rent-controlled apartments that had tenants in place who would be displaced by demolition and construction or for potentiallyimpacting wealthier, designated historic districts.
The plan was recently updated in the summer of 2024 to restrict where these projects can be built by avoiding historic districts or displacing current tenants. The moves have been criticized for ultimatelyhindering efforts to build more affordable housing and leaving low-income housing in the balance,according to local news outlets.
Bass' latest order does not note how it may impact the creation of these affordable housing projects.
Since the start of her tenure, she founded Inside Safe, a program to house homeless residents in local hotels and motels. According tolocal reports, the program faced pushback from hotel and motel owners tasked with housing the participants and was criticized for the poor living conditions faced by those being sheltered.
The program's website states it has placed more than 3,600 people in temporary housing and more than 700 in permanent housing so far.
Overall, Bass' office states it has moved 23,000 homeless residents into temporary housing and doubled the number of residents it has moved into permanent housing.
