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On April 22, 2026, LA Mayor Karen Bass and LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Their purpose? To find out when long-promised federal disaster recovery funds would arrive to help Los Angeles rebuild. Without those dollars, LA can’t repair the roads in the Palisades, underground electrical power lines, fix infrastructure destroyed in the firefight, or continue to help Palisadians return to their homes. While both sides came away from the meeting saying the talks were “very positive,” were they productive? That’s what we asked the city’s Deputy Mayor of Infrastructure and Climate Resilience. Randall Winston came into the job with a clear path forward. But that path changed dramatically on January 6, 2025, with the Palisades Fire. In the first of two episodes with the Deputy Mayor, host Cameron Barrett finds out if those federal dollars are on the way, and what they’ll be used for if they arrive.

Resources:

• Mayor Bass Climate Roadmap
• Mayor Bass Climate Action Plan
• Bass and Barger Meet with Trump

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Community. It’s a hard thing to define, and even harder to quantify. When the Palisades Fire swept through Los Angeles and Malibu, people didn’t just lose their homes, their schools, churches, and synagogues, their coffee shops, restaurants, and grocery stores. Perhaps most importantly, they lost each other - they lost community. Host Cameron Barrett speaks with Juliet Curry, the Director of the Palisades Community Renewal Center, about community this week. Curry and her dedicated team at PCRC offer a place where those affected by the fire can get mental health services, take part in family art classes, experience sound baths and yoga classes, all while sipping some really good coffee. In other words, they’re offering a chance to find community again.

Resources:

• Palisades Community Renewal Center
• Maple Counseling
• Services with Maple Counseling at the PCRC
• Picerne Family Foundation
• Zentangles

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15 months after the Palisades Fire, the Los Angeles City Fire Department is still under a microscope regarding their response times, emergency notifications to residents, and pre-deployment decisions. But that's not stopping them from taking an active role in helping residents get permits and permissions to rebuild. The fire department is integral in the process, and with more than 6,000 structures lost to the fire, it was clear to the LAFD and city government as a whole that building red tape could be a nightmare if not streamlined. That's where LAFD Captain Dwayne Laurent comes in. Our guest this week is the new LAFD Ambassador to the Palisades, recently named by the new Fire Chief, Jaime Moore. Host Cameron Barrett asks him all about his new assignment and how the rebuilding process is shaping up in the Palisades.

• LA City's Rebuild and Return
• Palisades Inspections and Permitting Support Center
• LA Recovery Resources
• MySafe:LA Can Help With Wildfire Risk Assessments

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In this day of increasing climate disasters, it might be time to start thinking outside the wood frame box when it comes to building homes in the Wildland Urban Interface. At least that’s what Gary Hendren from S.A.M. House is hoping people will do when they’re ready to rebuild their homes in Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and Malibu. On this week’s episode, host Cameron Barrett talks to Hendren about the new building material he’s invented that has passed rigorous wind and fire tests. And it’s fabricated right here in California. S.A.M. stands for Sustainable, Alternative, and Modular, three things Hendren wants Los Angeles residents to keep in mind when building for the future.

Resources:

• S.A.M. House
• Only 38% of Fire Survivors Rebuild

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It was more than a year ago (Episodes 019 and 020) when we first met Jon Brown and heard his story of escape and survival. Jon and his wife built their dream home in the Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates, better known as the Palisades Bowl, and were living their dream. They were just steps from the Pacific Ocean, their young children attended the perfect elementary school, and they were surrounded by their friends and the community they loved. But the Palisades Fire ended all that in a matter of hours. That was, obviously, devastating. But what happened in the weeks and months that followed made the fire look like only the first battle in a long, drawn-out war.

Owners of the Palisades Bowl were forced to finally clean the property more than 14 months after the fires. And they have remained uncommunicative as their 400+ residents have tried to determine a plan for rebuilding. The property has now been put up for sale. But Jon Brown and his neighbors are not giving up. In this episode, he tells host Cameron Barrett about his year of struggles and what's next in his fight to return home.

Resources:

• Palisades Bowl Community Group
• Palisades Community Resource Center
• California Senate Bill 749
• California Senate Bill 1092
• California Senate Bill 1093
• Palisades Bowl Aerial Footage of Cleanup
• Extreme Weather Survivors

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On this week’s episode, host Cameron Barrett talks to the award-winning actress and tireless neighborhood leader, Kelly Lynch. She’s been working since not long after the January 2025 firestorms to make her neighborhood an NFPA Firewise USA site. She’s the president of The Oaks Neighborhood Association in the Hollywood Hills, which is spread out along narrow, twisty roads, filled with many older homes, and lots, and LOTS of vegetation. Through her tireless work alongside her neighborhood Board of Directors and MySafe:LA’s trained risk assessors and wildfire experts, the Oaks recently received their Firewise certification and can now take advantage of the benefits, such as better insurance deals. Kelly says the process is “not for sissies” but worth the effort. And she has some advice for those who are interested in doing the same.

Resources:

• The Oaks Neighborhood Association
• Kelly’s Recent Docuseries - California Roadtrip
• NFPA Firewise USA

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In the second episode exploring MySafe:LA's collaboration with the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, we continue our conversation with MySafe:LA Executive Director David Barrett about the power of music to strengthen a community and help its people heal. We also finish up our interview with Lennon Bus co-creator Brian Rothschild. Turns out the Lennon Bus isn't new at helping kids experiencing the trauma and challenges left in the wake of natural disasters. Plus, we hear the terrific song, "Same City: Resilience After the Fire", written and performed by students from Pacific Palisades Charter High School.

Resources:

• John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
• MySafe:LA's Lennon Bus Collab
• "Same City: Resilience After the Fire" by students from Pacific Palisades Charter High School
• Music Impact Coalition

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This week is the first in a two-part episode on our new collaboration with the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. In our work to help the communities impacted by the Palisades and Eaton Fires recover and rebuild, we reached out to the Lennon Bus nonprofit because of their past work with kids affected by disasters. We wanted to create an initiative to help children affected by the fires tell their stories and connect with one another over their shared hardships as their schools, communities, and families have struggled to recover. The Lennon Bus offers just such a program by bringing students together through music-making and storytelling. In this first episode, we hear from the bus's co-creator, Brian Rothschild, MySafe:LA Executive Director, David Barrett, and the kids of Altadena and Pasadena through their original songs.

Resources:

• John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
• MySafe:LA's Lennon Bus Collab
• "Hiraeth" by students from Altadena
• "Mr. Change" by students from Blair High School in Pasadena
• Music Impact Coalition

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