Bass Touts 'Fastest' Ever Wildfire Recovery In State Of The City Address

LOS ANGELES, CA — Mayor Karen Bass highlighted what she called the record pace of rebuilding fire-devastated Pacific Palisades in her State of the City Address on Monday.

In her speech, which also focused on housing, homelessness and the city's budget deficit, Bass reiterated her frequent talking point that recovery from the Palisades Fire is on track to be the fastest of any post-fire recovery in state history.

She said permits to rebuild in the Palisades were issued more than twice as fast as after the Camp and Woolsey fires. And that water was restored nearly a year and a half faster than after the Camp Fire.

"We still have a long way to go — and for those who have lost a home each and every day is a day too long. We want to be fast, we want to be safe and we want to be resilient," she said.

She outlined three initiatives she said will help Palisades residents build faster:

• The creation of a self-certification program to reduce redundancy in the permitting process
• Use of AI for plan check reviews
• She called on the City Council to pass an ordinance that would waive all plan check and permit fees.

City News Service contributed to this report.