County, city coordinate FEMA support as supervisor invites president-elect; governor suspends permitting to speed rebuilding
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Summary
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she invited the president-elect to visit affected communities; she and Mayor Karen Bass said FEMA and county libraries will provide direct assistance and that Gov. Newsom issued an executive order to suspend permitting reviews to accelerate rebuilding.
Los Angeles County Board Chair Kathryn Barger said she sent a letter to the president‑elect inviting him to visit affected communities to meet residents, thank first responders and review federal assistance needs.
“It is in seeing this hope that I am confident that our communities will recover and rebuild,” Barger said, adding that legislative leaders and state agencies have committed to help cut permitting red tape that could slow reconstruction.
Barger said California Governor Gavin Newsom announced an executive order that suspends certain environmental review and coastal permitting requirements for reconstruction of properties substantially damaged or destroyed in the fires. She said the directive also asks state agencies to identify additional permitting requirements that can be safely suspended or streamlined to accelerate rebuilding; Barger thanked the governor for the action.
Mayor Karen Bass said the city will partner fully with the county and state to speed recovery and pointed to an online hub at lacity.gov as a centralized resource for evacuation zones, FEMA support and resources for small businesses. Bass said FEMA staff will be co-located at county libraries and later at local assistance centers; Barger provided a list of libraries that will host FEMA staff from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow, including La Crescenta, La Canada Flintridge, Live Oak, Temple City, San Gabriel, Alhambra, West Hollywood and San Fernando.
Bass also highlighted philanthropic support: more than 13,000 donors have given over $6 million to the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund and encouraged Angelenos to support vetted relief efforts such as the California Community Foundation and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.
Officials said more details about co-located FEMA disaster recovery centers and local assistance centers will be announced in the coming days and that county and city staff are coordinating housing, welfare, health and economic resources for displaced residents.