Mayor Karen Bass taps Illinois consulting firm to support Palisades fire recovery
Illinois-based Hagerty Consulting will do 'full project management, coordinating all of the different private and public entities,' the mayor said Friday. The work of rebuilding public infrastructure will also fall under the firm's purview, Bass said.
Bass, while touring Pacific Palisades with Steve Soboroff, her recovery czar, nearly two weeks ago, said she intended to hire an outside consultant to represent the city's interests in the wildfire recovery process. She said a decision would be made by the end of that week.
It's not yet clear how much the firm will be paid. It will report to Jim Featherstone, whom Bass appointed to oversee the city Emergency Operations Center's recovery group, she said.
'We have selected Hagerty, a world-class disaster recovery firm, to provide expertise and operational support to facilitate our comprehensive recovery effort,' Bass said during a news conference at which she provided updates on fire recovery and the city's progress in the month since the Palisades fire wreaked widespread devastation on the coastal enclave and surrounding areas, destroying more than 6,800 structures. At least 12 people were killed.
Hagerty Consulting, located in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, is an emergency management consulting firm that specializes in preparing for, responding to and recovering from disasters. On its website, the company has a 'disaster discourse' blog where it discusses the latest wildfires, hurricanes and other emergencies.
Bass also said that the city is still in discussions with global engineering firm AECOM about a separate contract, possibly to assist with cost recovery and ensuring that the city receives the federal funds it's owed.
Last week, Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl had said that the city was finalizing contracts with multiple firms.
In the days since Bass toured the Palisades with Soboroff, her search for a recovery contractor has been mostly shrouded in secrecy. The mayor, along with four council members and other city officials, heard presentations from three firms at a closed door meeting last week.
Hagerty, AECOM and the disaster recovery and response firm IEM gave brief Zoom presentations during the meeting.
'They had a little pitch session. They told us a little bit about themselves, but no decisions were made,' Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said.
Because Bass declared a state of emergency in response to the wildfire, she has the authority to award the contract unilaterally, without competitive bidding or a vote from the City Council, Blumenfield said. However, funding for the recovery contracts will require a council vote.
Councilmembers Traci Park and Katy Yaroslavsky and Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson were among those present during the meeting, as were Soboroff, City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo and Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso.
Soboroff, a real estate developer and civic leader, was named to his post by Bass last month. On Friday, he declined to say how much he will be paid in that role, saying only that he was not taking public dollars and his compensation would be covered by an unnamed philanthropic organization.
Soboroff said he does not know who the organization is or where its money is coming from.
Bass said that Hagerty has also been performing work for Los Angeles County. And she left open the possibility that more private firms will be hired in the coming days.
AECOM, on its website, said that it has responded to more than 400 disasters around the world and has more than 200 'disaster resilience professionals' on its staff. The firm has worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for more than 40 years, according to the site.
'We repair and restore impacted communities by helping to expedite a return to normal daily life,' the company said on the website. 'We're typically on the ground performing these missions within 24 hours of an event and continue to support the recovery and rebuilding process for months, or even years, afterwards.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fed's Goolsbee is concerned about inflation, not jobs, hinting at high bar for rate cut
A Federal Reserve official on Aug. 13 said he's more concerned about last month's rise in underlying inflation than an unusually weak jobs report, hinting he may not be inclined to support an interest rate cut in September as many economists expect. 'If we start getting more reports like the latest one on overall inflation… that would be more concerning,' Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and a voting member of the Fed's interest rate setting committee, said at a forum by the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce in Illinois. Goolsbee's remarks are noteworthy because he's generally considered one of the more 'dovish' members of the Fed's rate setting committee. That means he may be more inclined than others to reduce rates to head off a recession then raise rates or keep them higher for longer to bring down inflation. His views appear to conflict with those of many economists and investors, who viewed the July jobs report as dismal and the inflation reading as relatively mild. Earlier Wednesday, Fed futures markets figured there was a nearly 100% chance of a September rate cut. Like many Fed officials, Goolsbee has favored holding off on rate cuts until the Fed can assess the affects of President Donald Trump's tariffs on consumer prices. At a news conference that followed the chamber event, Goolsbee said, 'The most concerning thing in the (inflation) report was services.' Underlying services prices rose sharply because of increases in categories such as airfares and dental services. Goolsbee said he was worried about the reading because it reflected a potentially persistent trend, rather than a one-time bump from tariffs. He said he's also worried about Trump's plans to impose a 100% tariff on semiconductors, which could affect a wide range of technology products and ripple through the economy in a more sustainable way. Overall inflation held steady at 2.7% in July but a core measure that strips out volatile food and energy items rose from 2.9% to 3.1%, reflecting the rise in services price, according to the consumer price index, released Aug. 12. At the same time, Goolsbee also said he wasn't worried about the disappointing 73,000 jobs U.S. employers added in July and the downward revision of 258,000 jobs for the previous two months. The numbers left employment growth averaging an anemic 35,000 the past three months. But Goolsbee said Trump's immigration crackdown likely has affected population growth and the jobs numbers, but that doesn't mean the labor market has substantially weakened. He noted job opening and hiring rates are comparable to prepandemic levels. And the unemployment rate, at 4.2%, remains historically low. 'I think it's a bad idea to (overinterpret) from one variable,' Goolsbee told reporters. "We don't know what the immigration flows are." Goolsbee also said at the chamber event, "The state of the labor market is pretty strong, pretty solid." He said he wasn't ruling out a September rate cut, noting Fed officials will review the August inflation and jobs reports before making a decision at a mid-September meeting. 'It depends on what the numbers show,' he said, adding he hasn't made a decision. 'I consider all the meetings the Fed has to be live meetings.' (This story has been updated with new information.) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What Fed's Goolsbee said about a September interest rate cut Sign in to access your portfolio
San Francisco Chronicle
42 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Marin-Sonoma rail corridor expansion faces ‘existential threat' from lawsuit
The long-planned expansion of a hiking and biking pathway parallel to the North Bay commuter rail is facing a legal challenge from landowners who aren't keen on the trail cutting through their backyards. Sonoma-Marin Area Regional Transit, or SMART, has already constructed more than 39 miles of trail alongside its commuter rail tracks. The agency's ultimate goal is a multi-use pathway that runs the 70-mile length of the entire SMART corridor, which winds north from Larkspur in Marin County. The train currently goes only as far north as Windsor; a station in Healdsburg is slated to open in 2028, followed later by Cloverdale, the planned end of the line. SMART says it provides a way for people to access its 14 stations without needing to use a car. When completed, the pathway would also form the southern leg of the Great Redwood Trail, which could someday connect San Francisco Bay and Humboldt Bay. More than 130 plaintiffs sued SMART in 2021, accusing the agency of building its pathway on their properties without permission, by overstepping a series of 19th century easement agreements which allowed predecessor railroads to use the land for 'railroad purposes' only. After a judge dismissed about 100 of those claims, SMART paid $612,000 to settle the lawsuit with the remaining plaintiffs early last year. Now, however, about 65 of the plaintiffs whose claims had been dismissed have moved to proceed with the litigation. These plaintiffs, who own land along planned or newly-constructed stretches of the trail, argue that they should be compensated as the pathway extends. SMART spokeswoman Julia Gonzalez said the agency was notified of the second lawsuit, which has not been previously reported, on May 27. 'That's a real kind of existential threat to the remaining path system for SMART going forward,' David Rabbitt, who sits on SMART's Board of Directors, said at a meeting of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District's board last month. The plaintiffs are represented by a Sacramento attorney, as well as a Kansas City-based law firm that specializes in securing compensation for 'landowners whose property is taken for recreational trails.' Those cases often pertain to the National Trails System Act, which created a program to convert abandoned rail corridors into public trails in 1983. Under that process, known as 'railbanking,' the responsibility for compensating eligible landowners falls to the federal government. But SMART isn't interested in railbanking because its rail corridor isn't abandoned — it's an active line, and the agency says pedestrian pathways are key to its services. 'SMART's rail corridor remains fully active for passenger and freight rail service and has been in continuous use since the District began service in 2017,' Gonzalez said. 'The pathway, located within SMART's existing, active rail corridor, is a public transit asset that integrates with rail operations and supports rather than replaces rail service.' Thomas Stewart, an attorney with the Kansas City practice Stewart, Wald and Smith, said the agency was trying to 'have their cake and eat it too' by applying its easement to both train and pedestrian services. 'If you're not using (the corridor) for railroad purposes and you're putting a totally different use on top of that railroad purposes easement, then you have, in essence, changed the use,' Stewart said. 'That's a violation of the terms of the original easement and you're responsible for whatever damages there are.' Stewart said the case could go to trial in February unless the plaintiffs secure a settlement. If a judge rules against SMART, the agency would still be able to complete its pathway, he said, but only after paying landowners a 's—load of money.' SMART maintains that its pathway serves the 'railroad purpose' required by the easement agreement — it provides 'critical first- and last-mile connections' by helping walkers and bikers bridge the gaps between stations. 'We believe this lawsuit is less about protecting property rights and more about seeking settlements from public agencies — with taxpayers ultimately bearing the cost,' Gonzalez said. 'Although SMART believes it has the right to construct the pathway within its rail corridor, to resolve the issue and avoid prolonged legal costs, SMART has initiated a process to clarify (the new plaintiffs') property title and, where appropriate, offer fair compensation for pathway use within SMART's existing active rail corridor.' Gonzalez declined to comment further on the open litigation, but she stressed that the agency would continue to prioritize pathway construction. Advocates, however, have concerns about what a compensation policy could mean for the ambitious expansion SMART has planned. Warren Wells, the policy and planning director of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, wants to see the pathway completed promptly — and he worries that any strain on the project's funds could create additional delays. SMART's expansion has been cramped by cash constraints, especially after North Bay voters rejected a 2020 sales tax measure intended to give the agency a boost. The agency's reliance on grant funds has left gaps in the trail that frustrate bikers and pedestrians. 'Someone trying to get around by bicycle might have a stretch of really great multi-use path, and then all of a sudden you're riding on the shoulder of a busy four-lane road,' Wells said. 'Failure to deliver complete networks scares people out of riding bikes, pushes them into driving cars and adds more traffic. So I think SMART's goal of building a large and complete network is important.'
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Culver City Plant-Based Food Manufacturer Daring Foods Acquired by Australian Firm
Daring Foods, a Culver City-based food manufacturer focused on plant-based meat substitutes, was acquired by Australian firm V2food for an undisclosed amount. The company had generated annual revenue of about $30 million from products sold in thousands of stores that include major grocers Whole Foods and Walmart. 'Daring has built an incredible, consumer-loved brand with strong reach across the U.S., and combining that with our food technology creates immediate opportunities to accelerate our mission to be one of the global leaders in plant-based protein,' said Tim York, chief executive of V2food, in a statement. The company was founded in 2018 and raised more than $120 million to develop and expand its product line. It reached a valuation of $329 million in 2021. Information for this article was sourced from V2food.
