Jorge Ramos leads panel on LA’s wildfire recovery with city and state leaders

Journalist Jorge Ramos was recently back in action after marking his last sign off with Univision last December.

Moderating a panel on the Los Angeles wildfires that occurred earlier this year, his questions to city and state leaders Thursday were as sharp as ever: Could this have been prevented? How did they start? And is rebuilding in the same place a clever idea?

The discussion in downtown Los Angeles highlighted the pressures leaders are facing to rebuild after devastating January fires raged in Altadena, Pasadena and Pacific Palisades, destroying over 16,000 properties and killing 29 people. Some panelists and audience members – which included those affected by the fires – contested red tape slowing down the ability to rebuild quickly, which at times varied with hopes to rebuild “smart” and sustainably.

“I think it’s an opportunity to build denser, smarter,” said panelist Eunisses Hernandez, Los Angeles District 1 councilmember. “We need more housing, we just need to be smarter about it.” Panelist and Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Culver City) signaled he wants to cut red tape. Bryan, who chairs the Committee on Natural Resources, said that as an environmentalist and having worked closely with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), he’s seen how laws put in place to protect the environment have been misused to prevent development.

“Politicians are under extreme pressure to let people rebuild,” said panelist Cecilia Estolano, CEO of urban planning and public policy firm Estolano Advisors. But she doesn’t think it’s time to waive rules.

“We need to have those sustainability measures,” Estolano said.

Returning home

In the fires’ aftermath, some have worried about both short-term and long-term affordability. In January, some Los Angeles rentals saw prices spike in what critics considered rent gouging. Others worry that market rate housing will make up the bulk of rebuilt properties, stymying affordable units. Estolano, one of the many Latinos displaced from the fires, hoped that establishing a disaster recovery authority can step in to purchase and hold properties so prices can be kept reasonable. The scale of the fires’ damage, combined with increasing insurance premiums, also means most fire victims are expected to have been underinsured, if they have insurance at all.

Yet, Ramos came in with a pointed question: “Is rebuilding in the same place a clever idea?" From a public policy perspective, we probably should’ve never built in these places …[but] it’s very hard for me to tell someone who’s lost everything ‘you can’t go back home,’” said Assemblymember Bryan.

The pace of recovery has been a source of frustration for impacted Angelenos. Many agencies have been cross-collaborating, but Bryan said there isn’t enough of a common strategy. “It’s been ten weeks and we can’t find a place to live,” said one attendee from Altadena, who attended with his dog.

After the panel, Ramos received resolutions from the City of Los Angeles and the State Assembly recognizing his longtime work in journalism.

Hernandez and Bryan both said Ramos’ questions gave them a sweat. 

The resolution, Hernandez told CALÓ News, was given to Ramos in recognition of his “tremendous media career and being a truth teller in face of adversity."

Ramos, who has been the trusted face of Spanish news for generations of gente, departed Univision in December after 40 years with the network, earning multiple Emmys in his career.

The UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute hosted the panel.