City emergency management to transition Palisades recovery to departments as long-term phase begins

Los Angeles Emergency Management Department officials told a City Council ad hoc committee they will transition primary coordination of the Pacific Palisades fire recovery to the city departments that will lead long-term rebuilding, after seven months of intermediate recovery operations.

The transition means EMD will move from the lead coordinating role it assumed after the Jan. 7 Palisades fire to a supporting role, while the tenant city departments take operational responsibility. EMD General Manager Carol Parks said the city meets the three National Disaster Recovery Framework benchmarks — local capacity restored, core services stabilized, and tenant agencies ready to lead — and is aiming to hand off remaining workstreams by October 8.

EMD’s role and why it matters EMD General Manager Carol Parks said the department built a recovery structure from scratch while also staffing emergency response, then aligned its work with FEMA’s National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF). “We were called to build a recovery structure from the ground up while continuing our response role in the emergency operations center,” Parks said. EMD assembled six Recovery Support Functions (housing, infrastructure, health and social services, community assistance, natural and cultural resources, and economic recovery) that guided immediate actions and now will be transitioned to departments with day-to-day responsibility.

What EMD reported - Debris removal and abatement: EMD reported 4,472 parcels cleared and just 25 independent debris parcels with remaining debris. Surge staffing and contractor support were credited with accelerating abatement; EMD said its surge approach made the debris mission “the fastest” in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers history for comparable work. EMD also said it obtained special inclusion for 31 properties, estimated to yield ~$9,000,000 in avoided city costs. - Housing and schools: Casa Gateway Senior Housing was reported ready to welcome 68 residents; eight schools (including Calvary Christian, Marquez Elementary and Palisades High School) secured FEMA special inclusion and are on track to reopen this year. - Community relief and business assistance: EMD said more than 33,000 air purifiers were distributed; a small-business resource guide connected owners to roughly 18–19 assistance programs; the Stronger Together expo supported roughly 50–97 small businesses depending on the metric described. - Contractors and surge staffing: The technical assistance contract with Hagerty is a not-to-exceed $10,000,000 contract; EMD reported Hagerty billed about $2,600,000 to date and that the average Hagerty weekly burn rate was about $89,000. EMD said Hagerty’s work included debris policy, data analytics, crisis communications and filling staffing gaps.

Funding, FEMA and next steps City Administrative Office representatives said the city has submitted a damage inventory of approximately $241,000,000 covering 49 projects across 23 city departments to FEMA for review. CAO staff warned that FEMA obligation and reimbursement can take months and that additional federal review steps now in place may lengthen timelines.

EMD officials described two pillars for future readiness: (1) creating a permanent recovery capability inside EMD (the department has requested 11 dedicated recovery positions in FY25–26 and FY26–27 budget proposals and is seeking to regularize a substitute authority position), and (2) pre‑qualified, compliant “just‑in‑time” surge contracts so outside technical support can be activated quickly and remain FEMA‑eligible when large disasters strike.

Concerns raised by council members Committee members pressed EMD on rainy‑season preparations, hillside stabilization and watershed mitigation to avoid another season of debris flow and damage to beaches and wildlife. The chair asked about the watershed task force and coordination with the Department of Sanitation and LA County geologists; EMD said the watershed task force remains active and that Sanitation is the lead on watershed mitigation planning. Council members also raised gaps observed during the immediate response — for example pet recovery, volunteer management and community access under evacuation orders — and asked for those lessons to be reflected in after‑action reporting.

Quote "The Palisades recovery is on pace to be one of the fastest on record, though it can never be fast enough for those directly impacted," Carol Parks said, thanking the Palisades community and intergovernmental partners.

What remains open EMD said it anticipates the last RSF transition no later than Oct. 8; the department will remain available as a reach‑back resource to tenant departments. EMD reiterated that some work — including final abatement hearings and permanent public‑works projects — will continue under the responsible city departments and that FEMA review and obligation must occur before the city can draw down many reimbursements.

Ending Committee leadership thanked EMD and partner agencies for recovery work and urged continued coordination on debris‑flow mitigation ahead of the wet season.