Here's big news from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. A week before Thanksgiving, Bass announced that a four-bedroom house in Pacific Palisades had received final approval from the city, making it the first house to be rebuilt after wildfires destroyed 13,000 homes back in January.
In a functioning city this would be announced not with pride but with shame. pic.twitter.com/G6zBFdbph4
— Judge Glock (@judgeglock) December 1, 2025
Embarrassing https://t.co/lPQTdytknB
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) December 4, 2025
After FL was hit by Hurricane Ian, they rebuilt a bridge to pine Island in 3 days.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) December 4, 2025
The Palisades fire was in January and Bass is celebrating the completion of 1 house that actually started the permitting process before the fires.
Insane. https://t.co/5WtseHQ21d
What's this? It had already started the permitting process?
Trump's ballroom being completed before burned down houses in California is going to be a hell of a Vance/Rubio talking point in 2028. https://t.co/yO86YKvDpJ
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) December 4, 2025
The kicker?
— Amy Curtis (@RantyAmyCurtis) December 4, 2025
The permit for that house was pulled before the fire.
It’s not even a rebuild.
But wait, there's more!
It's even worse than it looks because the house was already approved for demolition and rebuilding before the fire and it's just a model house to advertise other sales. https://t.co/WLQJgph9zZ
— Judge Glock (@judgeglock) December 1, 2025
It's a model house, so no one will be living in it.
Liam Dillon reports for Politico:
But Bass didn’t mention the family that would be moving back into the finished property.
That’s because there isn’t one.
A homebuilding company, Thomas James Homes, owns the parcel. Before the fire, it sought permits to bulldoze the vacant home on the site and build a new one. The fire took care of the demolition. The new house isn’t planned as a place to live, but rather will serve as a model property for what the company could build for Palisades residents who’d lost their homes.
Reaction to Bass’ celebration was swift. Wildfire survivors called the mayor’s announcement tone deaf and claimed the project shouldn’t count as a wildfire rebuild. By the next morning, Bass had deleted her social media posts touting the development.
Unbelievable.
Approved BEFORE the fire. So the celebration is nothing but a false performance.
— Sherry Kerdman (@sherry_kerdman) December 4, 2025
So, as of right now, zero houses have been rebuilt? This is just the APPROVAL to start?
— E Bravo (@ebravo_x) December 4, 2025
Of course, Lyin' Karen Bass posted about it as if she'd personally made it happen, then had to delete her post after being called out
— KarenBassProgressReport (@KBassProgReport) December 4, 2025
What a bureaucratic embarrassment for LA specifically and CA more generally. Pathetic and shameful.
— Balls66 (@66Baller) December 4, 2025
The incompetence is breathtaking..I’d feel sorry for the people there but they keep voting for idiots
— Mike Kanin🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@KaninMike) December 4, 2025
You get what you vote for, and this is what Californians keep voting for.
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