In early January of this year, the Palisades Fire destroyed large areas of Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and Malibu. It is estimated that more than 1,200 commercial and residential structures were destroyed in the fire. So how is the rebuilding going?

On Wednesday, Breitbart reported:

Members of the Los Angeles City Council voiced their frustrations on Tuesday after learning that the city had only issued four building permits since the Palisades Fire — while paying $10 million to Hagerty Consulting for a “report.”

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass proudly announced in February that the city had set up a “one-stop” center for residents affected by the fire to obtain permits to rebuild their homes without enduring the usual city bureaucratic processes.

However, as local ABC News affiliate KABC-7 reported, only four permits have been issued in the past six weeks.

I don’t think the “one-stop” center is working.

The article notes:

Likewise, City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez questioned the $10 million the city spent on Hagerty Consultants:

“We have city departments who know how to do this recovery, who have been involved in recovery efforts in the past,” Councilmember Monica Rodriguez told ABC7. “And yet they can’t be afforded the opportunity to hire the personnel that they need, but we can give a $10 million contract to an outside agency to help write a report for us.”

Rodriguez called the Hagerty contract “obscene.”

As Breitbart News reported in February: “the city hired the consulting firm in a secretive process. The amount and terms of the contract have yet to be revealed to the public. Hagerty was hired despite two former consultants for the firm recently pleading guilty to defrauding New York City of federal relief funds during the Hurricane Sandy disaster recovery.”

This is simply another example of government being the problem rather than solving the problem. California needs to hire someone who can actually cut through red tape rather than just spend taxpayer money.