If I Were King for a Day

A little game I play when I want to say, if I did not have any constraints, what would I do?

A couple weeks back, I got the Teddy Kennedy question of sorts. It feels like a lifetime ago. The question was essentially, “who would be the one person or group of funders you would want to get in the room with?” At the time, I racked my brain. I do not know LA well enough to know the entire landscape.

Rick Caruso’s name came to the top of mind because of his Steadfast LA and so out in public. The banks, with my tongue in cheek about the Canadian banks are obvious. Mike Milken as he is perhaps the greatest financial mind ever and a challenge like what we are fighting would be great for him to opine on. Who else? Department of Angels? I was striving but did not have the name.

In the meantime, we saw the legislation around the “form” of the organizations move. SB 782 and Climate Resilience Districts? SB 549 and a Countywide Rebuilding Authority? Neither is of interest because they are layering more problems onto the problem. The community is against SB 782 because there is no choice and way to shut it down, it is imposed, and SB 549 is a bridge too far, an initiative out of the Westside. Altadena got 30 opposition comments in less than 12 hours for Lindsay Horvath’s motion, which is based on SB 549. Probably double the number were also sent to the Supervisor, though she still voted for it (another issue but I am sure there is a political answer for why). Is SB 549 a solid solution? Community says “no.”

But through all that, I kept saying, without an alternative, we are stuck. We see the bad, which means, do we amend SB 782 to make it more palatable? Do we lean into SB 549 because at least there is a choice to kibosh it if things go badly? Neither were desired. The community wants something different, something along the lines of the freedom offered by AB 797. Furthermore, both SB 782 and SB 549 are about Tax Increment Financing (TIFs), which will not be able to affect a rebuild on a scale needed and made promises which were not real. They were conceived as a way to bond money coming in taxes and grants from the federal government, but the latter, the really valuable piece, is not happening as of now.

So, here we stand. We need a choice to offer an alternative to two really bad choices. I went back to the “Teddy Kennedy Question.” Who?

This morning, as is wont happen, a text came through asking a question about what we knew about one of the groups formed up like Steadfast LA, Department of Angels, and others. It was a name I had not heard since January. LA Rises. You say, who are they? Well, here is the press release. The Governor. Mark Walter. Magic Johnson. Casey Wasserman. These are people who banks can be comfortable with. These are people who know how to do big things. They are not afraid of challenges, not afraid to make bold decisions. They could get the community behind them. They can do it different than is currently being offered.

I read more. I looked at their mission in the press release.

LA Rises will contribute through collaboration, access to capital and financial tools, leveraging innovation and private-sector investment to drive a faster recovery. It will support the broader recovery efforts by:

• Fundraising and expanding access to philanthropic and private capital

• Formulating financing strategies to close the gap between available resources and the cost to rebuild

• Collaborating with other philanthropic and community organizations to maximize the impact of ongoing rebuilding and recovery efforts

• Supporting unified communication efforts to arm Angelenos with up-to-date, factual information, timelines for rebuilding, and available resources

Hmmm….these are exactly the things I am envisioning for Altadena and the Palisades.

Financial sophistication, transparency, collaboration, bringing together the different groups to close gaps…music to my ears. It is what we need, full stop.

So, here it is. Were I king (though we know SRP did not listen to my advice as evidenced by her limited amendment to SB 782), I would say to the Governor, here is a great opportunity. The County and City have no support in the community. The options being presented are half-baked and not worthy of the moment we need. You are the Governor of the largest state in the union with an eye on potentially the future. Let’s set the tone. Let’s show America how we think different. We have an unprecedented disaster. You have a group you can work with. It is intended to exactly what we are looking to do. Let’s do it. Leave the other options on the sidelines. They are not what we need.

Furthermore I would say, you gave the County and the City the opportunity and the best they came up with was what you see. Nobody is happy. They have not galvanized around one solution. City supports SB 782. County unanimously goes with SB 549. Do they want SB 782 too? They originally supported it. Neither gets people what they want. The whole thing is so schizophrenic. They lost the trust of the community.

Since the locals cannot get it together and the Army is winding down, something needs to happen as we predicted back in April. Let’s work with those who can. I would love to help shape the picture. We know how to do it. We just need a trusted partner for the banks. We have a structure in AB 797 to show how community accountability can be done. TIFs will not finance the whole thing, and the County and City can bond whatever they choose if they choose to do so without these added layers of Districts/Authorities. We have the community behind us. They want something other than is being offered. They do not trust the County. The City, well I cannot speak for them, but it is clear where they are. Let’s get a third variable in the conversation so people can consider it.

If you, Mr. Governor, are willing to veto SB 782 and SB 549, then we can start to get people to the able to have a real discussion. We do not need to wait. We can go tomorrow. We know what to do. Your initiative, LA Rises, is exactly what we have been talking about. Maybe it is time to get the project into the limelight.

This is if I were king for a day.