logo
Resilient Recovery Initiative Receives Grant From the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Following Eaton and Palisades Wildfires

Resilient Recovery Initiative Receives Grant From the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Following Eaton and Palisades Wildfires

Business Wire4 days ago
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Climate Resolve and Resilient Cities Catalyst together received a $250,000 grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to seed development of a comprehensive Resilient Recovery Roadmap in response to the Eaton and Palisades wildfires that devastated Los Angeles communities. The Resilient Recovery Roadmap will shape a multi-year, multi-million dollar community-led effort that will guide billions of dollars in long-term recovery funding and build resilience to future disasters.
"With the Hilton Foundation's support, we can begin the critical work of bringing diverse stakeholders together to develop actionable plans for recovery and future resilience."
The Roadmap will serve as a comprehensive and actionable plan that addresses both immediate recovery needs and long-term community resilience. The project will bring together global expertise from successful disaster recovery efforts while prioritizing local community experiences and needs.
"This initiative builds on our previous work following the 2018 Woolsey Fire and applies global best practices in resilience planning to the specific challenges facing Los Angeles neighborhoods," said Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director of Climate Resolve, who also serves on LA County's Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and Fire Safe Recovery. "With the Hilton Foundation's support, we can begin the critical work of bringing diverse stakeholders together to develop actionable plans for recovery and future resilience."
Global nonprofit Resilient Cities Catalyst brings extensive experience in disaster recovery, with a team that has led resilience-building efforts following Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, and other crises. Climate Resolve, meanwhile, combines direct community engagement with successful policy advocacy in California and has authored several wildfire reports, including Lessons from the Woolsey Fire in 2020 and Mental Health Effects Of Wildfire Smoke, Solastalgia, and Non-Traditional Firefighters in collaboration with the UCLA Center for Healthy Climate Solutions in 2021.
'Resilient Cities Catalyst is honored to support this critical recovery effort in partnership with Los Angeles communities,' said Sam Carter, Founding Principal at Resilient Cities Catalyst. 'Every place is unique, but we are excited to share the lessons we have learned from around the world to inform a resilient recovery process.'
With a target release date of fall 2025, the Roadmap will be driven by an inclusive and equitable process that integrates convenings, engagement with key stakeholders, and alignment with other existing recovery efforts.
For more information about the Resilient Recovery Roadmap or to learn how to support or collaborate in advancing this effort, please contact Kris Eclarino, Senior Technical Manager at keclarino@climateresolve.org.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

California utility creates fund for victims of January's deadly Eaton Fire near LA
California utility creates fund for victims of January's deadly Eaton Fire near LA

Washington Post

timea day ago

  • Washington Post

California utility creates fund for victims of January's deadly Eaton Fire near LA

LOS ANGELES — Southern California Edison announced this week that it will create a fund to compensate victims of January's devastating Eaton Fire near Los Angeles, even as the cause of the blaze that killed 19 people remains under investigation. The creation of the Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program seems to suggest that the utility is prepared to acknowledge what several lawsuits claim : that its equipmentsparked the conflagration in Altadena. '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,' Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, the utility's parent company, said in a statement Wednesday. 'This allows the community to focus more on recovery instead of lengthy, expensive litigation.' Officials haven't said what caused the fire that destroyed more than 9,400 homes and other structures . It is not clear how much money the utility will contribute to the fund. A lawsuit filed by Los Angeles County in March claims that costs and damage estimates were expected to total hundreds of millions of dollars, with assessments ongoing. SCE said the compensation program, which will go into effect this fall, would be open to those who lost homes, rental properties or businesses. It would also cover those who suffered injuries, were harmed by smoke or had family members who were killed. Among those suing SCE is EJ Soto, whose rental home in Altadena where she grew up was destroyed by flames. She first heard about the fund on the news. She said she considers the fund's creation as a 'form of admission' from the utility that its equipment caused the inferno. Soto worries that her family will receive 'pennies on the dollar' and said the utility is trying to get out ahead of future lawsuits. 'All our memories are there, places we raised our children. Money won't bring that back. They need to know that our pain is greater than that,' Soto said Thursday. The SCE payment plan is being created by administrators who helped form similar programs, including the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. LA County previously won more than $64 million in a settlement with Southern California Edison over the 2018 Woolsey Fire . Investigators determined SCE's equipment sparked that blaze, and the utility also paid more than $2 billion to settle related insurance claims. Utility equipment has sparked some of the deadliest and most destructive fires in state history in recent years. LA Fire Justice, which advocates for wildfire victims, said in a statement Thursday that the SCE program's creation shows that the utility is prepared to accept responsibility. But the nonprofit said a similar fund by Pacific Gas & Electric following wildfires in Northern California was slow to roll out and inefficient. '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,' said Doug Boxer, an attorney for LA Fire Justice. Investigators are also working to determine the cause of the Palisades Fire , which broke out shortly before the Eaton Fire and killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of structures in Los Angeles.

California utility creates fund for victims of January's deadly Eaton Fire near LA
California utility creates fund for victims of January's deadly Eaton Fire near LA

San Francisco Chronicle​

timea day ago

  • San Francisco Chronicle​

California utility creates fund for victims of January's deadly Eaton Fire near LA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California Edison announced this week that it will create a fund to compensate victims of January's devastating Eaton Fire near Los Angeles, even as the cause of the blaze that killed 19 people remains under investigation. The creation of the Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program seems to suggest that the utility is prepared to acknowledge what several lawsuits claim: that its equipmentsparked the conflagration in Altadena. '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,' Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, the utility's parent company, said in a statement Wednesday. 'This allows the community to focus more on recovery instead of lengthy, expensive litigation.' Officials haven't said what caused the fire that destroyed more than 9,400 homes and other structures. It is not clear how much money the utility will contribute to the fund. A lawsuit filed by Los Angeles County in March claims that costs and damage estimates were expected to total hundreds of millions of dollars, with assessments ongoing. SCE said the compensation program, which will go into effect this fall, would be open to those who lost homes, rental properties or businesses. It would also cover those who suffered injuries, were harmed by smoke or had family members who were killed. Among those suing SCE is EJ Soto, whose rental home in Altadena where she grew up was destroyed by flames. She first heard about the fund on the news. She said she considers the fund's creation as a 'form of admission' from the utility that its equipment caused the inferno. Soto worries that her family will receive 'pennies on the dollar' and said the utility is trying to get out ahead of future lawsuits. 'All our memories are there, places we raised our children. Money won't bring that back. They need to know that our pain is greater than that,' Soto said Thursday. The SCE payment plan is being created by administrators who helped form similar programs, including the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. LA County previously won more than $64 million in a settlement with Southern California Edison over the 2018 Woolsey Fire. Investigators determined SCE's equipment sparked that blaze, and the utility also paid more than $2 billion to settle related insurance claims. Utility equipment has sparked some of the deadliest and most destructive fires in state history in recent years. LA Fire Justice, which advocates for wildfire victims, said in a statement Thursday that the SCE program's creation shows that the utility is prepared to accept responsibility. But the nonprofit said a similar fund by Pacific Gas & Electric following wildfires in Northern California was slow to roll out and inefficient. '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,' said Doug Boxer, an attorney for LA Fire Justice. Investigators are also working to determine the cause of the Palisades Fire, which broke out shortly before the Eaton Fire and killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of structures in Los Angeles.

New Orleans trash collectors litigate over removing foul French Quarter odors
New Orleans trash collectors litigate over removing foul French Quarter odors

Yahoo

timea day ago

  • Yahoo

New Orleans trash collectors litigate over removing foul French Quarter odors

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The stench of trash and residue of bad decisions in one of America's favorite party hotspots is being scrubbed away, thanks to a change in garbage collectors that New Orleans residents say has transformed the French Quarter. 'The Quarter has never been this clean,' said Jill Wagner. She became inured during her three decades living along Bourbon Street to rat-infested, overflowing garbage cans and sidewalks stained with puke, urine and booze. Now, with a zesty lemon fragrance sprayed across the streets daily, "it smells like Disney World.' A chorus of residents and business owners is heaping praise on the city's so-called 'Trash King," Sidney Torres IV, and his company, IV Waste, for cracking the code to sanitary success. The district has gleamed since Torres was given an emergency year-long contract last December to handle its waste management, they say. Tourists stumbling out of a Bourbon Street bar around sunrise on any given day can find IV Waste employees power-washing sidewalks, scooping up cigarette butts and spritzing streets with his patented 'lemon fresh' cleaning formula. But a judge on Wednesday allowed Mayor LaToya Cantrell to replace IV Waste at the end of July, over the objections of the city council. With a local management district insisting on Torres, this raises the possibility of rival collectors competing for the French Quarter's garbage. 'Just because they like the other guy, that is not enough,' the mayor's attorney Charles Rice told the judge, and he said there's 'no reason' to believe a different contractor would do worse. An escalating legal battle over the trash A state appeals court is scheduled to review in August who will ultimately earn tens of millions of dollars managing the French Quarter's trash in 2026 and beyond. At stake is the attractiveness of some of the most important city blocks in the country, residents say — New Orleans reports that more than 19 million visitors spent a collective $10 billion last year, and most visited the historic French Quarter. In a city plagued by dysfunction including constant flooding, treacherous potholes and a massive jailbreak, Torres' company has become a point of civic pride. The quarter is filled with signs in support of IV Waste. 'It's not even in the same solar system -- the service they provide versus what others provide,' said Danny Conwill, who owns an oyster bar off Bourbon Street and is suing the mayor to keep IV Waste. He recalls other trash collectors leaving 'noxious garbage juices' and heaps of shrimp heads and oyster shells scattered about, leading to rank summer odors bad for business. Torres, a real estate developer who began as a personal assistant to Lenny Kravitz and once hosted Justin Bieber's 20th birthday party at his Bahamas resort, became a local celebrity and reality TV star after launching a trash company to clean up the city after Hurricane Katrina. He then sold it and waited out a non-compete clause before rebuilding his trash empire with IV Waste. Officials say city will be paying more for less After a competitive bidding process last year, the city began negotiating a $73 million contract with another local firm, Henry Consulting, to clean the French Quarter for at least the next five years. But before the deal was finalized, council members grew alarmed that the company did not seem to have the necessary equipment or subcontracts in place as Super Bowl LIX and the annual Mardi Gras celebrations loomed. IV Waste then won an emergency contract to clean the French Quarter through 2025, and Henry Consulting sued, accusing the city of failing to uphold a valid contract. The metastasizing litigation now pits an outgoing mayor with waning popularity against a feisty city council and state officials including the attorney general, with both sides slinging accusations of cronyism. Cantrell was elected in 2017 with the endorsement of Henry Consulting founder Troy Henry. In April, Cantrell announced she was terminating the IV Waste contract early, and that Henry's firm would take over. This new no-bid contract would cost $2.1 million more, with inferior results, sanitation director Matt Torri told the city council on Monday. He and other officials said Henry Consulting still doesn't seem ready for the job. Henry Consulting declined to comment to The Associated Press. Cantrell's office told The AP that the city 'remains committed to working with all parties to provide sanitation services to the French Quarter.' Meanwhile, a new Louisiana law empowers the management district to appoint its own garbage collector, and the residents and business owners who run this state agency selected IV Waste. Torres said his company will keep taking out the trash, even if it means rivals go toe-to-toe on Bourbon Street. 'We're going to do our job, and they can watch and learn," Torres said. 'The French Quarter can rest assured that we're going to continue to clean.' ___ Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store