Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Barger Welcomes Federal Rebuilding Push But Says Altadena’s Real Crisis Is Financial

The county supervisor warns of an imminent mass sheltering shortage as fire survivors exhaust insurance and emergency funds

Altadena families are not just waiting on permits. They are waiting on money.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose 5th District includes Altadena, issued a statement Tuesday welcoming President Trump’s executive order aimed at accelerating wildfire rebuilding — but she cautioned that the federal action addresses a problem that may not be the primary barrier to recovery. The most urgent need, Barger said, is financial: families lack the capital to begin or continue rebuilding, and the county faces a looming mass sheltering crisis as survivors exhaust their insurance payouts and emergency relief funds.

“I welcome any effort to responsibly accelerate rebuilding,” Barger said in her statement. “Los Angeles County already has a local self-certification process to help expedite rebuilding, along with streamlined approvals for modular, factory-built homes, and pre-approved plans.”

Trump’s executive order, titled “Addressing State and Local Failures to Rebuild Los Angeles After Wildfire Disasters,” directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration to issue regulations that could preempt state and local permitting requirements for federally funded reconstruction projects. The order also calls for an audit of nearly $3 billion in federal hazard mitigation grant program funds allocated to California.

Barger, the only Republican on the five-member County Board of Supervisors, did not reject the federal initiative but shifted focus to what she described as the community’s actual crisis. County permits spend just over 30 business days in plan check, she said, with additional delays stemming from the work of architects, engineers, and builders — not government bureaucracy.

“The most urgent need in the Altadena region is financially driven,” Barger said. “Families lack the capital to kick-start or continue their rebuilding plans. Our County will soon face a mass sheltering crisis as survivors’ insurance and emergency relief funds run out.”

One year after the devastating fire, fewer than a dozen homes have been rebuilt across Los Angeles County, according to an Associated Press investigation. The fires — including the Palisades Fire in West Los Angeles — together killed 31 people and destroyed approximately 13,000 residential properties.

Surveys by advocacy groups tracking the recovery have found that roughly 65 percent of Altadena residents remain in temporary housing. About half of survivors reported depleting much or all of their savings while waiting for insurance settlements and navigating the rebuilding process.

Barger called on the federal government to collaborate with the county on implementing a mass housing and sheltering program and to provide long-term disaster aid. She specifically cited Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds, a federal program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that provides flexible funding to help communities recover from presidentially declared disasters.

“As FEMA’s role expands into this new recovery function, I’m hopeful that the federal government will collaborate with our County to implement a mass housing and sheltering program and offer long-term disaster aid (such as Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds) so we can accelerate recovery,” Barger said.

California submitted a request for nearly $40 billion in federal disaster aid in February 2025. State and local officials have said the administration has not forwarded the request to Congress.

“All survivors deserve full support from all levels of government,” Barger said, “so they have a fair shot at rebuilding their lives.”

The executive order requires FEMA and the SBA to publish proposed regulations within 30 days and final regulations within 90 days.

The statement from Barger’s office was issued in response to the White House announcement of the executive order on January 27, 2026.