Newsom’s LA Rises Initiative Not Just About Rebuilding Los Angeles, But City’s Rebirth & Path Forward For “The Next 50 Or 100 Years”

“This is the most important city and essential city anywhere in the world,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom emphatically at a press conference today to discuss his L.A. Rises initiative, which he officially announced earlier in the day. L.A. Rises aims to help the city as it recovers from the recent fires that destroyed thousands of structures.

That effort will be led by high-profile sports and entertainment leaders, including Magic Johnson, Casey Wasserman and Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter. Its mandate is to create “a unified recovery initiative that brings together private sector leaders to support rebuilding efforts led by the city of Los Angeles.”

Wasserman emphasized that the project is not just about rebuilding but also “the rebirth” of L.A.

“This is about what L.A. is going to be like for the next 50 or 100 years,” he said from the podium. Key to that will be a public-private partnership that will include a lot of private capital. To seed the effort, the Mark Walter Family Foundation and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation have provided an initial commitment of up to $100 million. Newsom reported that more is coming in.

“We’ve received tens of millions of additional donations,” the governor said. He also promised the announcement of “additional philanthropic resources.”

Among the likely investors will be Johnson. The former Lakers great and business mogul said his attention will be on helping victims of the Eaton Fire.

“My focus will be on Altadena because those people may be left behind, and we want to make sure that doesn’t happen,” said Johnson of the area, which includes one of the first middle-class African American neighborhoods in L.A. Addressing fears of speculators praying on fire victims, he added, “We don’t want somebody to just come in and take their land. We want to make sure they have all the information. Once you have the right information you can make a really good decision.”

Johnson sees himself as a key conduit for that information. “I’ve invested in that community. I know that community. I speak their language. I will be able to communicate that message.”

A UCLA study released today indicated that Black residents of Altadena were disproportionately impacted by the Eaton Fire’s devastation, both in the concentration of households within the burn area and the percentage of homes that were destroyed or sustained major damage.

Wasserman is, of course, already involved in recovery efforts through his work as a Motion Picture Television Fund board member. He’s also the Chairperson and President of LA28 effort around the upcoming L.A. Olympics and sees that as a chance to “lean into” the ironic opportunities afforded by tragedy of the fires.

“L.A. is in the tourism business and we are the home of big events,” said Wasserman. “The Olympics in L.A. will be the largest peacetime gathering in the history of the world.”

That event, he said, is an opportunity to supercharge the rebuilding effort and build back better.

“This is something we have to grow our way out of,” he said. The 2028 event also offers an aggressive timeline for efforts at recovery and rebirth.

Newsom, whose own political career has had its ups and downs, said he’s familiar with such transformations.

“I come from a city whose flag has a phoenix on it,” the former San Francisco Mayor said in reference to that city’s recovery from the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fires. “We can’t lose hope.”

The governor stressed that civic philanthropy was just “one leg of the stool.” He said reimagining how various strata of government work together — or don’t — will also be key.

“The whole idea of this is this is a completely revitalized region in mindset, not just infrastructure. That [we address] the relationship between the city and the county and the state and the federal government. That we address some of these longstanding simmering issues around jurisdiction, [the] inability to work together across differences. To address streamlining. To get serious about housing. To address some of these traditional barriers.”

One of the most contentious relationships in recent weeks has been that between the state and federal governments, with President Trump recently saying Los Angeles would only get federal fire aid if it met certain criteria, including adopting voter ID requirements. But on a visit to the region Friday that saw Newsom greet him on the tarmac, Trump told a gathering of local L.A. elected officials, “I’m going to give you everything you want.”

Asked today about those suggested requirements for federal aid and whether aid would be forthcoming, the Newsom responded, “I continue to have all the confidence in the world. This comes from a little bit of experience working with President Trump during Covid. We had a partner. Not a sparring partner, [but] a working partner in President Trump during those years. That’s why it was important to make that case anew to the president. I was with him just a few days ago. Followed up. And have been in contact with the White House following up further.”

On the subject of today’s announced federal funding freeze (which a federal judge blocked this afternoon), Newsom was optimistic.

“To the extent, situationally, there’s some issues today…to me, all those issues get worked out and we’ll work through them as it relates to our recovery,” he said.

Among Trump’s chief concerns last week was that the process of clearing home sites would drag on in bureaucratic red tape.

Trump pressed embattled L.A. Mayor Karen Bass — whose name went unmentioned at today’s press conference — to speed up the process for allowing residents to return to their homes, as well as to address complaints that some were told it would take 18 months to start the process of rebuilding. Trump said that he would ensure that any federal permits were expedited.

Newsom took up that banner today saying the process can’t proceed the way it has before.

“We’re not going to double down on stupid,” he said, before indicating that it had taken repeated attempts with the notoriously strict California Coastal Commission before that powerful body got the message that things were going to be different this time around. “I didn’t think they got the message or memo, so they got a second executive order.”

The governor also said he engaged with the president on related issues, specifically permitting and debris removal.

“His support in getting FEMA in this 30 day Hazmat removal is going to be critical,” observed Newsom. “He has more power and authority over the Army Corps than anybody, which will be critical to moving mountains to get this debris removed. We want to make sure we’re all along — federal, state and local — to drive to accountability…and not have to wait 18 months.”

Newsom indicated he was cognizant of the lessons learned in the Maui fires.

“This is logistically challenging,” he noted, “but it’s nothing compared to the challenge in Maui…where they had to take all the debris off the island.”

As of Tuesday, 6,837 structures had been destroyed by the Palisades Fire, and another 1,017 damaged. The Eaton Fire has destroyed 9,418 structures and damaged another 1,073. Newsom said California unfortunately has also learned its own lessons related to fire destruction on that scale.

He cited the 18,000 structures damaged in the Camp Fire.

“There’s some history here, sadly, and what I mean is there’s some experience here, as well,” said Newsom, before asserting that rebuilding can’t be done the way it has been done.

“We’re not going to say, ‘You can’t rebuild your home.’ But if you do rebuild your home, you have to rebuild in the right way,” emphasized the governor, noting that city needs to be “resourceful” when it comes to costs, pricing, architecture and building a sustainable path forward. “We can come back more climate resilient. [We] can come back stronger.”

To that end, Newsom reported, “I’ve had two or three of the most famous architects in the world say, ‘Plug me in. How do I get engaged?’”

But before that can happen, the rubble must be gone.

The debris removal process is currently in Phase 1, which is the elimination of hazardous materials from properties by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ensure those areas are safe as residents begin to access them.

Phase 2 is when the Army Corps of Engineers comes in and physically removes the debris from properties. Owners must opt in to that free removal program. Residents can also opt out of the program and hire their own contractors to conduct the work. Right of Entry forms became available today, allowing residents to opt in or out of the clearance program.

“The debris removal, Phase 1, we want to be done in the next 30 days,” said Newsom. He also stressed that Phase 2 should be able to happen concurrently: “All this happens stacked on top of each other.” It was unclear exactly how that will work.

State and local officials are also working on issues that may arise in the construction phase. Some federal actions may be complicating those efforts.

Federal ICE agents arrested 188 people last week for alleged illegal re-entry into the U.S. and evading immigration enforcement. Such efforts are expected to hit the construction industry hardas undocumented workers are its backbone.

“By some estimates, 40% of the construction industry in California are immigrants,” observed Newsom today. To fill the gap, he said, “We are already working with our labor agency and our community colleges. Even looking at the out of state workforce.”

You can watch today’s full press conference below.

City News Service contributed to this report.