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CAO reports loaned $50M and $23M remaining; committee presses FEMA reimbursement process and staffing for long-term recovery
Summary
The City Administrative Officer reported a $50 million transfer to a wildfire recovery account, with roughly $38 million requested/approved so far and about $23 million remaining if all current requests are approved. Committee members pressed CAO, EMD and consultant Hagerty on FEMA reimbursement pacing, contracting and staffing gaps for recovery.
Jacob Wexler of the Office of the City Administrative Officer presented the CAO—0s monthly expenditure update on the General City Purposes wildfire emergency response and recovery account and said the account was established after the council approved a $50 million transfer from the Building and Safety Building Permit Enterprise Fund as a loan.
Wexler reported spending details through March 14: $1.4 million had been spent on an engineering project to clear a blocked intersection and shore a hillside; in the week before the meeting about $14 million more was approved (largely LAPD overtime), an additional $15 million request (from the Fire Department) was under review, and approximately $8.2 million was being held pending further cost detail. "If all the requests that have been submitted were approved, the total is about $38,000,000. So there'd be about $23,000,000 left in the account," Wexler told the committee.
Committee members pressed staff on prioritization and FEMA eligibility. Park asked what factors guided CAO prioritization; Wexler said primary tests were FEMA reimbursability and departmental need, and that the CAO is working with Cal OES and departments to ensure documentation meets FEMA standards. Patty Huber of the CAO—0s office confirmed CAO staff and Cal OES are meeting with departments and providing training to improve documentation for reimbursement.
Committee members questioned Hagerty's role and whether it was assisting with FEMA reimbursement. Tracy Phillips of Hagerty said the consultant was not doing FEMA grant writing or reimbursement submission because Hagerty—0s broader contract creates a conflict with state-level work; instead, the firm is supporting planning, operations, convening recovery support functions, and fundraising strategies. Committee members asked the CAO whether an additional contractor would be retained to help on FEMA project development; the CAO said a contractor was being finalized to support project development and reimbursement.
Staffing and capacity: Melissa Velasco (CAO) and Jim Featherstone (EMD) explained that recovery work is currently being handled as collateral duty by several EMD staffers; two retired employees have been temporarily reemployed to help and EMD has requested additional positions for FY26 budget planning. Park and other members pushed for more immediate surge capacity, noting EMD currently has critically low staffing for recovery operations.
What the committee acted on: the committee noted and filed the CAO monthly report and adopted instructions requiring the CAO to include in future monthly expenditure reports (1) funding requests denied (amount and reason) and (2) funding requests pending review. The committee also approved related motions to keep the CAO, CLA and EMD engaged in documenting FEMA-reimbursable activity.
Ending: Members said timely, consistent documentation and a project-development contractor will be critical to maximize FEMA reimbursement and to avoid overburdening city department operating budgets while the city fronts emergency costs.
