Is there a government that LA’s fire victims can depend upon?
Probably not. Which is why they should demand the creation of a government of their own.
A year after the Palisades and Eaton fires savaged Southern California, LA is still burning — with frustration and anger. At revelations about the failures to prevent fires. And at the myriad problems of the fire recovery.
To be fair, all levels of government have done extraordinary things in the fires’ aftermath, from fast lot clean-ups to streamlining of building permits. Yet it’s not enough. Fire victims say they feel fundamentally on their own — to deal with silos within LA’s feuding city and county governments, to find assistance from a large menu of state programs, to handle unscrupulous lawyers and contractors, and to battle with an insurance industry that offers uneven service and low-ball reimbursements.
If only there were some sort of government that could focus 24/7 on nothing else but post-fire recovery and repair.
Good news: There is. It’s called the Climate Resilience District.
CRDs can do two big things. First, as planning entities, these climate districts allow communities to collaborate on climate-related projects. Second, as governments, they can levy taxes, conduct referenda, sell bonds, and apply for grants to fund such projects.
CRDs are local governments created by other local governments. A city, a county, or one of California’s nearly 3,400 special districts can form a CRD.
Just like fires and floods, CRDS cross political boundaries. Districts may include multiple municipalities or counties. As climate change worsens, this flexibility could make CRDs a particularly useful method of designing, funding, and managing environmental risks and disasters.
The idea of delineating new districts or areas for climate projects is not a California invention. Localities in other countries have done this, more or less formally, for a decade or more. China has its “sponge cities”, Germany its eco-districts, and Holland its “climate-proof” neighborhoods.
California, however, was the first place to empower local communities by law to authorize such climate governments for themselves. This came after years of advocacy by the Sacramento nonprofit CivicWell and after slow local recoveries from major Northern California wildfires like 2017’s Tubbs fire (in Sonoma County) and 2018’s Camp fire (which destroyed Paradise).
In 2022, state Sen. Bill Dodd, representing the Wine Country, sponsored SB 852, to establish rules for creating and running CRDs. The law authorized these districts to pursue various revenue sources, including tax-increment financing, benefit assessment fees, voter-approved supplemental property taxes, state and federal grants, and private donations. The bill defined “eligible projects” for CRDs as addressing sea-level rise, extreme heat, extreme cold, drought, flooding, and, of course, wildfire.
Dodd’s legislation also made the Sonoma County Regional Climate Protection Authority, a pre-existing body, the state’s first CRD. Officials say the district already has successfully fostered collaboration on climate plans, since it includes the Sonoma County government, eight cities, and the town of Windsor on its governing board. But the CRD has been slower to produce revenues. The district has explored various tax plans, but polling, and California’s two-thirds requirement for approving local taxes, has so far discouraged the district from asking voters to fund their mitigation and adaptation plans.
Other communities have considered establishing CRDs, but Sonoma’s district remained the state’s only one — until fires swept through LA
The problems of recovery have made CRDs appealing for Southern Californians, Los Angeles County’s government, and state Sen. Sasha Renee Perez, who sponsored legislation to ease the creation of new fire recovery district.
LA County has taken steps to set up CRDs in two places. In November, the Board of Supervisors approved the creation of the Unincorporated Santa Monica Mountains Wildfire Disaster Recovery Financing District to cover county areas burned in the Palisades fire. It’s also expected to cover Malibu. An Altadena climate district received preliminary approval in October.
Unfortunately, neither county-authorized district includes the neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, which is part of the city of Los Angeles, but a third CRD could be created there. (The LA city council is considering a study of a CRD).
Dividing up the fire areas into three districts is not ideal. One larger CRD would offer LA’s fire recovery efforts more capacity, more coordination, and potentially more money. A combined district might also have more political leverage to demand better performance from insurance companies and the state’s ineffective insurance commissioner.
But the real test will be whether residents and fire victims can take charge of these new climate districts themselves, instead of deferring to powerful local elected or appointed officials. People will need to be unified and unapologetically aggressive in using all of the authority of CRDS to raise revenues and carry out plans.
It’s the best chance for those most affected by the LA fires to determine the future of their communities for themselves.
Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zócalo Public Square and is founder-publisher of Democracy Local.