Editorial: Palisade fire aftermath burns up government’s credibility

Anyone who believes that the cabinet can solve their problems requirements to spend particular time in Southern California This month Sens Rick Scott R-Fla and Ron Johnson R-Wis held a masses hearing on the destructive Palisades Fire Earlier in the year it killed people and destroyed almost structures A great number of of them were homes in the Pacific Palisades a locality west of Los Angeles The hearing featured six Pacific Palisades residents who mourned their losses and vented their frustrations They directed much of their ire at local officers And for good reason The Santa Ynez Reservoir which could hold more than million gallons of water was empty when the fire started One reason the fire did so much damage was that firefighters ran out of water The reservoir was around half full in January when an L A Department of Water and Power employee spotted a rip in the reservoir s floating cover It installed that cover in only to comply with federal regulations The original plan was for the repair to be completed by April Instead DWP didn t even finalize a contract for the repair until November During that process DWP drained the reservoir Then there was Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley After she was hired in Crowley hastily pushed a plan to increase diversity Our efforts will be maximized by making sure diversity is celebrated and valued and that equity and inclusion are intertwined into every protocol procedure and practice she commented As it turned out protecting the local population is maximized by prioritizing merit not intersectional box-checking After the fire the L A Times disclosed that Crowley s department didn t pre-position its fire engines to danger zones L A Mayor Karen Bass who was in Ghana when the blaze erupted fired Crowley in February But those residents still have good reason to be upset with local authorities Greater part of their homes haven t been rebuilt As of October of Palisades residents displaced by the fire were living in temporary housing One of the reasons was an overly complicated permitting process for rebuilding Bass just now released a new pilot project to speed up permitting a mere months after the fire More than projects are already substantiated to have started construction a release from her office announced That s evidence of deep dysfunction in local governance not something to brag about There s a lesson here for the general populace If you want something fixed or rebuilt a establishment with an overactive regulatory state is more likely to be a barrier to overcome than a helpful partner Las Vegas Review-Journal Tribune News Provision Editorial cartoon by Steve Kelley Creators Syndicate