The pace of rebuilding in Malibu, California is going very slowly. Ridiculously slowly. The fires were ten months ago, but in Malibu, only TWO rebuilding permits have been issued.
One local official, a volunteer ‘Fire Rebuild Ambassador’ named Abe Roy resigned this week out of frustration.
Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom is wasting his time trying to ‘own’ Trump on Twitter, while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spends all of her time complaining about Trump and ICE on liberal cable news networks.
Is there any wonder why nothing is getting done?
The Westside Current reports:
Malibu Rebuild Ambassador Resigns, Urges Mayor to Step Down Over Slow Post-Fire Recovery
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.
Abe Roy, appointed in late May as the city’s “Fire Rebuild Ambassador,” told the City Council at a Monday meeting that he was leaving the post and later urged Riggins to “gracefully step down,” saying the city is “prioritizing politics over permits.” “Two permits issued in nearly 10 months is an abomination by any standard,” Roy said.
Roy’s resignation caps months of mounting frustration among homeowners who lost properties in the Palisades and Franklin fires and say they are facing costly studies, duplicative reviews and shifting standards before they can rebuild.
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.
In an interview with Westside Current, Roy said Malibu’s process has been “intentionally made difficult” over decades to slow development — an approach he said is ill-suited to disaster recovery.
See the video of Roy resigning below:
Breitbart News adds this update:
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.
Gavin Newsom, Karen Bass, and the entire Los Angeles city council should resign. Their response to the fires has been an utter disgrace.