When last we left Los Angeles, it was fielding yet another scandal, this one of USAID proportions. As my colleague Becky Noble reported, $100 million dollars was raised for victims of January's Eaton and Palisades fires at a FireAid concert that same month. Seven months later, very little of that amount has actually reached the intended victims. The proceeds were given to a bundle of legitimate and sketchy non-profits who were tasked with appropriately distributing the funds.
It seems this has not gone well. This is our shocked face.
Read It Here: Seven Months Later, CA Wildfire Victims Are Asking 'Where's the FireAid Concert Money?'
There was such a hubbub from Palisades residents as well as independent journalist Sue Pasco of Circling The News, that on July 23, Congressman Kevin Kiley (R-CA) wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi to ask for the Department of Justice to look into it. Apparently CA AG Rob Bonta is too busy suing President Donald Trump to be bothered.
Kiley's call for accountability and answers reached the ears of President Donald Trump, who called FireAid a total disaster and a Democrat scam.
“FIREAID” IS A TOTAL DISASTER. LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER DEMOCRAT INSPIRED SCAM. 100 MILLION DOLLARS IS MISSING. WAS SUPPOSED TO TO GO TO THE LOS ANGELES FIRE VICTIMS, FIRES THAT, WITH PROPER MANAGEMENT, WOULD NEVER HAVE EVEN HAPPENED. GOVERNOR NEWSCUM REFUSED TO RELEASE BILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, AND THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT WOULD HAVE MADE! I HAVE SINCE OVERRULED HIM, AND IT IS NOW RELEASED. All FEDERAL HOUSING PERMITS HAVE ALSO BEEN APPROVED, THE CITY IS YEARS LATE. GET THE FIRE VICTIMS THEIR APPROVALS TO REBUILD, AND DO IT NOW!
Trump posting on social media triggers Democrats and the Left like nothing else, and thus the wagon circle began. FireAid did what any good astroturf organization does: They lawyered up. Latham & Watkins is one of the law firms that signed an agreement with Trump, and they are now involved with running cover for FireAid. The firm sent a letter to Kiley stating that they will conduct a "comprehensive review" on how the organizations that received the funds have used them.
Reviews take time, and when done by a law firm, tend to be opaque. In the meantime, a new form of duck and cover is happening at Southern California Edison (SCE), whose malfunctioning equipment reportedly was the source of the Eaton Fire that decimated the communities of Pasadena and Altadena.
Southern California Edison today announced the Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program- link opens in new window that will offer a streamlined approach to quickly compensate those impacted by the Eaton Fire. Launching this fall, the voluntary, comprehensive claims program will provide direct payments and fast resolutions to eligible individuals and businesses. This includes owner and renter claims for total and partial structure loss, commercial property loss, business interruption, smoke and ash, physical injury and fatalities.
“Community members shouldn’t have to wait for the final conclusions in the Eaton Fire investigation to get the financial support they need to begin rebuilding,” said Pedro J. Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International, SCE’s parent company. “Even though the details of how the Eaton Fire started are still being evaluated, SCE will offer an expedited process to pay and resolve claims fairly and promptly. This allows the community to focus more on recovery instead of lengthy, expensive litigation.”
SCE is working with Kenneth R. Feinberg and Camille S. Biros — world leaders in compensation fund design and administration — to consult on the design of this program. Feinberg and Biros have over 35 years of experience in mediating and resolving thousands of complex disasters and advocating for those impacted. This includes their work with the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 and the design of many similar programs.
This came as a surprise to the organizations and law firms who are organizing class actions involving the Eaton Fire victims. In particular, L.A. Fire Justice, founded by former Assemblyman Chris Holden, attorney Doug Boxer, trial attorney Mikal Watts, and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich.
In a July 23 press release, Boxer said of the supposed direct payments:
Experience suggests that these direct payments for victims are neither quick, nor easy, nor equitable. PG&E offered a similar program and wildfire victims ended up receiving inadequate compensation, and it didn’t happen fast.
After the 2018 Camp Fire, PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) pled guilty to causing 84 deaths because of faulty equipment which set off the deadly blaze. Years later, several victims still have not received compensation, and many have been unable to rebuild. As Governor Newsom's office maligns concerned citizens, paying more attention to his presidential aspirations than the victims, the attempts to gain answers and the ability to rebuild is being met with deflection, distractions and confusion. Class action suits can drag on for years, but the potential promise of a quicker payout is one way to peel off litigants and shut people up.
L.A. Fire Justice attorney Mikal Watts said at their July 24 town hall in Pasadena:
We'll be watching, and I promise you as soon as the details of this [SCE] program comes out we will analyze them, we will figure out whether it makes sense for anyone to participate or for no one to participate. But I have a healthy dose of skepticism and so should you, until we know the details.
It seems when it comes to California wildfires, instead of the blaze, it is the victims that are getting hosed.
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