{"id":294500,"date":"2025-10-11T11:16:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T11:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/294500\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T11:16:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T11:16:16","slug":"fire-torn-pacific-palisides-is-fuming-about-delayed-civic-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/294500\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire-torn Pacific Palisides is fuming about delayed civic projects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

They had come to hear plans for the privately funded rebuilding<\/a> of the Palisades Recreation Center that was badly damaged in the January fire that tore through Pacific Palisades.<\/p>\n

Most of the hundreds crammed into the rec center\u2019s old gym cheered about plans for new park space, pickleball courts and basketball hoops to be paid for by some of Los Angeles\u2019 wealthiest and most prominent philanthropists. <\/p>\n

But that Tuesday night \u2014 nine months to the day since the Palisades fire began \u2014 they were angry, too. With City Hall. <\/p>\n

During public comments, Jeremy Padawer, whose home in the Palisades burned, said of the city-owned rec center: \u201cWe need this. We need churches, we need synagogues, we need grocery stores. We need hope.\u201d <\/p>\n

But he said he didn\u2019t trust the municipal government to run the beloved rec center and reminded the crowd that the city, which is navigating the complex recovery from one of the costliest and most destructive fire in its history, is \u201ca billion dollars<\/a> in debt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Firefighters <\/p>\n

Firefighters extinguish hot spots at the Community United Methodist Church of Pacific Palisades on Jan. 12.<\/p>\n

(Jason Armond\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are they going to do with this brand new facility when [philanthropists] turn the keys over to them?\u201d he asked. \u201cDo we trust them?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d the crowd shouted.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWhere is Mayor Bass?\u201d The audience cheered. Someone hollered back: \u201cLost cause!\u201d <\/p>\n

Bass and other city leaders dispute they have neglected the fire-ravaged Palisades, but the scene encapsulated the anger and disappointment with City Hall that has been building in one of Los Angeles\u2019 wealthiest neighborhoods. There, scores of yard signs depict the mayor wearing clown makeup \u00e0 la the Joker. On one cleared lot, an enormous sign, roughly 7 feet tall, stands where a home once did, declaring: \u201cKAREN BASS RESIGN NOW.\u201d <\/p>\n

Residents have blamed city leaders for a confusing rebuilding process that they say is being carried out by so many government agencies and consultants that it\u2019s difficult to discern who is in charge<\/a>. They also say that the city is moving too slowly \u2014 a charge that Bass and her team vehemently reject. <\/a> <\/p>\n

\"a <\/p>\n

Kenny Cooper, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, speaks during a news conference announcing the arrest of 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht in connection with the Palisades fire on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

(Christina House\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, a day after the meeting at the rec center, federal prosecutors announced that the deadly Palisades fire was a flare-up of a small arson fire that had smoldered for six days, even after city firefighters thought they had it contained<\/a>. Authorities said they had arrested Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old Uber driver who is suspected of setting the initial fire on New Year\u2019s Day. <\/p>\n

Hours after the arrest was announced, the Los Angeles Fire Department \u2014 which failed to pre-deploy engines despite extreme wind warnings<\/a> \u2014 released<\/a> its long-awaited after-action report<\/a> that said firefighters were hampered by an ineffective process for recalling them back to work, as well as poor communication, inexperienced leadership, and a lack of resources. <\/p>\n

Many Palisadians had already suspected the fire was a rekindling of the smaller blaze, said Maryam Zar, who runs the citizen-led Palisades Recovery Coalition. But the onslaught of news landed \u201clike a ton of bricks\u201d in the frustrated community. <\/p>\n

Zar got home late after attending the meeting at the rec center Tuesday night. Then, on Wednesday morning, her phone buzzed with text message chains from Palisadians telling one another to brace for a traumatic day \u2014 not necessarily because they would learn how the fire started, \u201cbut because we all knew that it was so unnecessary,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

While people were happy there was \u201cfinally some accountability\u201d with the arrest, she said, conversations in the Palisades quickly turned to: \u201cHad the city been prepared, this wouldn\u2019t have happened.\u201d <\/p>\n

Zar, who has spent more than a decade serving on and founding volunteer organizations and task forces in Pacific Palisades, said she was well accustomed to byzantine government processes. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut for the first time, I\u2019m worried because the wheels just aren\u2019t turning,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A large sign on a fire-scorched lot at Alma Real Drive and El Cerco Place in Pacific Palisades calls on Mayor Karen Bass to resign.<\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

One project that has, for some, become surprisingly emblematic of working with the city is the promised-but-delayed installation of a small temporary space for the Palisades Branch Library, which stood next to the rec center campus before it was destroyed. <\/p>\n

Cameron Pfizenmaier, president of the volunteer group Friends of the Palisades Library, said Los Angeles Public Library officials told her in July that the city would be placing a 60-by-60-foot prefabricated building \u2014 essentially a large trailer \u2014 on a grassy space at the entrance to the rec center. <\/p>\n

It would include lockers for patrons to pick up books ordered online, computers, printers and scanners, and public meeting space. The building, she said she was told, would be up and running by August<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Then, she said, the building\u2019s installation was delayed to October. And the location was changed, with the temporary space \u2014 which probably will stand for several years while the library is being rebuilt \u2014 now set to be placed atop two tennis courts at the rec center. <\/p>\n

In an email to The Times this week, Bass\u2019 office said that the building\u2019s installation is expected to begin in November and that it should open by the end of January. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe community is losing faith that the city is actually able to do anything,\u201d said Pfizenmaier, who lost her home. \u201cIt\u2019s such a missed opportunity for good news and hope. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that hard to drop a bungalow and hook it into power. … The only thing that\u2019s making it hard is the bureaucracy that\u2019s preventing it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"People <\/p>\n

People play tennis at the Palisades Recreation Center on Oct. 5.<\/p>\n

(Juliana Yamada\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Yet Palisadeans themselves seem divided on the library, with some decrying the proposed use of the rec center\u2019s grassy expanse, a rare green oasis in the charred neighborhood. Reality TV star Spencer Pratt, who lost his home, posted a photo of the space on Instagram<\/a>, complaining that \u201cKaren Bass and her city goons want to put a temporary library on top of it\u201d and that he figured \u201cthe library will be designed in the shape of an empty water reservoir<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others have blasted the decision to place the structure atop the popular tennis courts. <\/p>\n

In a statement to The Times, Bass\u2019 office said the city\u2019s Department of Recreation and Parks and the Los Angeles Public Library are gathering community feedback about the modular building, which the two agencies will share. They also are still determining how to hook up plumbing, sewage and electricity on site and are ordering books, computers, supplies and furniture, the mayor\u2019s office said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis effort needed to be coordinated with and adjusted to the plans to redesign and rebuild the Palisades Rec Center to ensure the temporary site would not impede future construction,\u201d Bass\u2019 office said. <\/p>\n

From the days just after the fire through July, the library lot on Alma Real Drive served as a staging area for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power\u2019s emergency response, including distributing water and providing electric vehicle charging stations for Palisades residents, Bass\u2019 office said.<\/p>\n

Bass has issued a swath of executive orders to aid recovery, including providing tax relief<\/a> for fire-affected businesses and streamlining permitting<\/a>. And she has touted<\/a> the speed with which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a federal agency, cleared debris from the library lot, citing her own \u201ccall to prioritize public spaces in the debris removal operation.\u201d <\/p>\n

The lot was cleared in April in six days \u2014 24 days ahead<\/a> of schedule. <\/p>\n

Bass\u2019 office said the L.A. Public Library is working to select an architect from a list of preapproved contractors through the Bureau of Engineering \u201cto expedite the rebuilding of the permanent library.\u201d <\/p>\n

Joyce Cooper, director of branch library services for the library, said in an interview that the Palisades Branch Library held more than 34,000 items, including books, audiobooks, DVDs and CDs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty much our entire collection \u2014 everything was lost,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cIt was a community hub. When the fire destroyed the branch, it took that away from everybody.\u201d <\/p>\n

The city established limited library services in the nascent<\/a> Pacific Palisades in the 1920s, and the community got its first branch library<\/a> in 1952. <\/p>\n

The most recent facility opened in 2003 and was damaged by a 2020 electrical fire that destroyed much of the children\u2019s collection, said Laura Schneider, a board member and former longtime president for Friends of the Library.<\/p>\n

After a long closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteers worked hard to draw people back to the library, Schneider said. Children and teenagers competed in writing contests, volunteers hosted big weekend book sales, and older people sought help with computers.<\/p>\n

Schneider \u2014 whose still-uninhabitable home was damaged by the January fire \u2014 was first drawn to the library as a young mom. She moved to the Palisades when her son, now 23, was 2 years old and was enchanted by the big, circular window with a window seat in the fairy-tale-themed children\u2019s section. <\/p>\n

\u201cI really believe it\u2019s the heart of the Palisades,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cIt\u2019s a place that welcomes everyone. … There\u2019s no community center. There\u2019s no senior center in the Palisades. The library is as close to that as it comes.\u201d <\/p>\n

At the start of Tuesday night\u2019s meeting at the Palisades Recreation Center, Jimmy Kim, general manager of the city\u2019s cash-strapped<\/a> parks department, made clear that questions about the location of the temporary library were \u201coutside the scope\u201d of the gathering and would not be answered. Many in the audience groaned. <\/p>\n

The recreation center will be rebuilt through a public-private partnership that Bass and her onetime political adversary, billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso, promoted in a joint appearance<\/a> in the spring. There, Bass told reporters<\/a> that the city\u2019s job was to ensure the project was able to move quickly through the permitting process and that \u201cthe role of government is to get out of the way.\u201d <\/p>\n

Private donations from Caruso\u2019s philanthropic group Steadfast LA will help pay<\/a> for the roughly $30-million rebuilding<\/a> of the rec center. Another major donor is LA Strong Sports, a group started by Lakers coach JJ Redick, a Palisades resident who coached a youth basketball team at the center and appeared at the Tuesday meeting.<\/p>\n

Speaker after speaker praised the private donors for making speed a priority. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful that this is going through private [development] and not city because otherwise it would not be up for another 10 years,\u201d said one woman, who said she had lived in the Palisades for two decades and had an 8-year-old boy who used the park often.<\/p>\n