5 ms·

The only guidance I’ve heard so far is that the shelters are in need of bedding. Neither of the press briefings today offered more opportunities for support.

throwup238 2y ago
I lived through another major wildfire in SoCal and the organization that provided the best support was the California Community Foundation: https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/953510055 https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/953510055 I’d wait until the smoke settles (because the CCF focuses on less well-off communities than Altadena or the Palisades) but donating to their wildfire relief efforts does a lot of good regardless. They frequently give grants to the local organizations running the evacuation shelters.
- blululu 2y ago
  I would second this and say donate today. Focusing on who has money and who doesn’t today is really not a good policy. It is a generalization that is bound to misclassify some old ladies on a fixed income (my mom has one sleeping on her couch because of this). People who lost their homes and all their possessions yesterday and today may not be as wealthy as they were 24 hours ago.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
linotype 2y ago
Where the hell is Karen Bass? Our government?
- tomohawk 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - philistine 2y ago
    > She went to Ghana on a taxpayer paid political junket, which doesn't seem like something the mayor of even a major city would be officially involved in I live in a very mid-size city for my province and our mayor goes on international trips on city business maybe once a year. The fact itself is not out of the ordinary.
    - tomohawk 2y ago
      This mayor seems really interested in advancing the interests of Africa, rather than where she actually has a job. https://youtu.be/u8c_3YEosk4 https://youtu.be/u8c_3YEosk4
  - inferiorhuman 2y ago
    She cut the fire department budget by $20 million. Equipment, supplies, and salaries were cut. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/wildfire-threatens-karen-bass-extended-honeymoon-00197228 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/wildfire-threatens-... That assertion is wrong. The city was in the process of negotiating a new contract with the fire department at the time the budget was being crafted, so additional funding for the department was set aside in a separate fund until that deal was finalized in November. In fact, the city’s fire budget increased more than $50 million year-over-year compared to the last budget cycle, according to Blumenfield’s office, although overall concerns about the department’s staffing level have persisted for a number of years. So… no? DEI obsessed fire chief…DEI office and bureaucracy. Ah, there it is.
- radicaldreamer 2y ago
  She just got back from Ghana: https://x.com/skynews/status/1877115173443400065?s=12 https://x.com/skynews/status/1877115173443400065?s=12
- throwbacktictac 2y ago
  I keep seeing questions about the location of Karen Bass and I don't understand the outrage. Did she fly to Ghana when the fires erupted? Is she not allowed to take vacations? Was she expected to magically reappear in California when things got out of hand? Has her responsiveness been extremely latent.
  - throwbacktictac 2y ago
    Ok, I understand some of the criticism now. 1.) She cut funding to the fire department budget by millions of dollars. 2.) There is a video floating around where she is totally unresponsive to questions.
    - sahila 2y ago
      She cut some 2% of the LA fire department budget, 17M out of 837M. The outrage is politically fueled more than any rationale reasoning.
      - X0Refraction 2y ago
        Is that reduction absolute or real terms? If it's absolute then that's a pretty large reduction considering inflation
        ProcNetDev 2y ago
        "That assertion is wrong. The city was in the process of negotiating a new contract with the fire department at the time the budget was being crafted, so additional funding for the department was set aside in a separate fund until that deal was finalized in November. In fact, the city’s fire budget increased more than $50 million year-over-year compared to the last budget cycle, according to Blumenfield’s office, although overall concerns about the department’s staffing level have persisted for a number of years." https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/wildfire-threatens-karen-bass-extended-honeymoon-00197228 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/wildfire-threatens-...
      - 2y ago
- infecto 2y ago
  I don't live in LA but would Karen Bass even have much of any input? The palisades is mostly Santa Monica no? Sure its part of LA county but why would the mayor of LA have any input on Santa Monica / Santa Monica mountains. Genuinely curious why she is in the spotlight compared to the local officials in Santa Monica? Edit: I continue to see her name pop up in the news and I have been trying to understand how LA works in that she is in the complete spotlight. There are fires in surrounding LA but does the city of LA mayor have any control in those?
  - harmmonica 2y ago
    Pacific Palisades is part of the city of Los Angeles and so falls under the mayor’s jurisdiction.
    - infecto 2y ago
      Thanks for the clarification. I missed that it juts around Santa Monica

throwup238 2y ago

I lived through another major wildfire in SoCal and the organization that provided the best support was the California Community Foundation: https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/953510055 https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/953510055 I’d wait until the smoke settles (because the CCF focuses on less well-off communities than Altadena or the Palisades) but donating to their wildfire relief efforts does a lot of good regardless. They frequently give grants to the local organizations running the evacuation shelters.

blululu 2y ago
I would second this and say donate today. Focusing on who has money and who doesn’t today is really not a good policy. It is a generalization that is bound to misclassify some old ladies on a fixed income (my mom has one sleeping on her couch because of this). People who lost their homes and all their possessions yesterday and today may not be as wealthy as they were 24 hours ago.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

linotype 2y ago

Where the hell is Karen Bass? Our government?

tomohawk 2y ago
[flagged]
- philistine 2y ago
  > She went to Ghana on a taxpayer paid political junket, which doesn't seem like something the mayor of even a major city would be officially involved in I live in a very mid-size city for my province and our mayor goes on international trips on city business maybe once a year. The fact itself is not out of the ordinary.
  - tomohawk 2y ago
    This mayor seems really interested in advancing the interests of Africa, rather than where she actually has a job. https://youtu.be/u8c_3YEosk4 https://youtu.be/u8c_3YEosk4
- inferiorhuman 2y ago
  She cut the fire department budget by $20 million. Equipment, supplies, and salaries were cut. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/wildfire-threatens-karen-bass-extended-honeymoon-00197228 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/wildfire-threatens-... That assertion is wrong. The city was in the process of negotiating a new contract with the fire department at the time the budget was being crafted, so additional funding for the department was set aside in a separate fund until that deal was finalized in November. In fact, the city’s fire budget increased more than $50 million year-over-year compared to the last budget cycle, according to Blumenfield’s office, although overall concerns about the department’s staffing level have persisted for a number of years. So… no? DEI obsessed fire chief…DEI office and bureaucracy. Ah, there it is.
radicaldreamer 2y ago
She just got back from Ghana: https://x.com/skynews/status/1877115173443400065?s=12 https://x.com/skynews/status/1877115173443400065?s=12
throwbacktictac 2y ago
I keep seeing questions about the location of Karen Bass and I don't understand the outrage. Did she fly to Ghana when the fires erupted? Is she not allowed to take vacations? Was she expected to magically reappear in California when things got out of hand? Has her responsiveness been extremely latent.
- throwbacktictac 2y ago
  Ok, I understand some of the criticism now. 1.) She cut funding to the fire department budget by millions of dollars. 2.) There is a video floating around where she is totally unresponsive to questions.
  - sahila 2y ago
    She cut some 2% of the LA fire department budget, 17M out of 837M. The outrage is politically fueled more than any rationale reasoning.
    - X0Refraction 2y ago
      Is that reduction absolute or real terms? If it's absolute then that's a pretty large reduction considering inflation
      - ProcNetDev 2y ago
        "That assertion is wrong. The city was in the process of negotiating a new contract with the fire department at the time the budget was being crafted, so additional funding for the department was set aside in a separate fund until that deal was finalized in November. In fact, the city’s fire budget increased more than $50 million year-over-year compared to the last budget cycle, according to Blumenfield’s office, although overall concerns about the department’s staffing level have persisted for a number of years." https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/wildfire-threatens-karen-bass-extended-honeymoon-00197228 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/wildfire-threatens-...
    - 2y ago
infecto 2y ago
I don't live in LA but would Karen Bass even have much of any input? The palisades is mostly Santa Monica no? Sure its part of LA county but why would the mayor of LA have any input on Santa Monica / Santa Monica mountains. Genuinely curious why she is in the spotlight compared to the local officials in Santa Monica? Edit: I continue to see her name pop up in the news and I have been trying to understand how LA works in that she is in the complete spotlight. There are fires in surrounding LA but does the city of LA mayor have any control in those?
- harmmonica 2y ago
  Pacific Palisades is part of the city of Los Angeles and so falls under the mayor’s jurisdiction.
  - infecto 2y ago
    Thanks for the clarification. I missed that it juts around Santa Monica