The volunteer leader of the rebuilding effort for the city of Malibu, California, which was hit hard by the Palisades Fire in January, resigned in protest this week over the slow pace of permits to rebuild homes.
The Westside Current reported:
Malibu’s volunteer fire rebuild ambassador resigned this week and called on Mayor Marianne Riggins to step down, citing what he described as an untenable pace of reconstruction following January’s wildfires.
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City figures cited in news reports show roughly 720 structures were destroyed; 69 projects have initial planning approval, and only two have received building permits, allowing construction to start.
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City leaders have pointed to staffing shortages and complex site conditions — coastal erosion, steep hillsides, septic systems and fire-access requirements — as drivers of delay. Malibu is operating with an interim city manager, Candace Bond, and has multiple vacancies in community development, city officials have said. Bond was appointed in May.
According to the state government’s rebuilding dashboard, the City of Los Angeles has issued 680 rebuilding permits (out of 1,691 applications), and Los Angeles County has issued 491 (out of 2,084 applications).
Malibu was also devastated by the Woolsey Fire in 2018 and by the Franklin Fire in December 2024, just weeks before the Palisades Fire.
Fewer than half of the homes destroyed in the Woolsey Fire have been rebuilt. As with the Palisades Fire, administrative fees and delays are part of the process. So, too, are fights with insurance companies about payouts for coverage.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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