Amid rumors that her wildfire recovery czar, Steve Soboroff, would receive $500,000 for 90 days of labor, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass took a step back on Saturday.
The Los Angeles Times originally announced on Saturday morning that Soboroff, a longstanding civic politician and real estate entrepreneur, will get $500,000 over three months to serve as the city’s “chief recovery officer.”
Bass, who hired Soboroff on January 17, swiftly changed his mind by Saturday night. Originally, his pay supposed to come from charitable groups. According to her, Soboroff will now oversee the city’s reconstruction at no cost.
For LA, Steve is always there. I requested him to change his contract and work for free when we spoke today. “Yes,” Bass replied.
“We both agree that we don’t need anything to divert our attention from our recovery efforts.”
According to Bass, another individual, longtime real estate executive Randy Johnson, was supposed to receive $250,000 from charitable organizations for helping Soboroff, but he would now work for free as well.
Bass expressed her gratitude for Johnson’s generosity and knowledge, but the mayor’s staff refused to identify the charitable groups or provide details on how the money was raised.
One of the five members of the recovery committee, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, told the Times that it was “infuriating” that charitable organizations would give two people $750,000, calling the sum “obscene.”
He’s working for three months and getting paid $500,000? Ric Grenell, President Donald Trump’s special missions envoy, posted on X of Soboroff. They refer to this as a charity. Horrible. offensive.
“I’m getting paid $0 – as are many people,” Grenell, who sat close to Trump during a round table discussion in the Pacific Palisades last month, continued. It’s fortunate that California will be subject to restrictions on federal funding.
Soboroff’s claimed $500,000 compensation was denounced by Larry Vein, a Pacific Palisades homeowner whose home was damaged by smoke, who said that no one should manage recovery operations for “financial gain.”
After his home was damaged in the Palisades Fire, Steve Danton, who now lives in a temporary apartment in Marina del Rey, called Soboroff’s compensation a “money grab” and stated the city is going through a “crisis of leadership.”
Soboroff, who formerly volunteered on the commission that is in charge of the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Board of Police Commissioners, justified the $500,000 sum earlier on Saturday.
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In order to become the wildfire recovery czar, he said he has specialized knowledge, is assuming broad duties like liaising with federal agencies, and is renouncing other real estate and environmental consulting jobs.
“I’ve been doing this for 35 years for free on some of the biggest civic projects for the city of Los Angeles. But nobody ever asked me to drop everything. This time they did,” Soboroff stated.
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“And I said OK, under the condition that my pay not be taken out of city money, or from any wildfire survivors who would otherwise benefit from that money.”
According to Soboroff, he has interviewed “thousands of residents,” offered suggestions on the city’s permitting procedure, and counseled the mayor to appoint an outside project manager to oversee city agencies’ replacement of damaged infrastructure.
“At the end of the day, I’m doing the stuff that all these other people are just studying,” he stated. “I’m implementing to help people reach their goals of getting back in their houses and getting their jobs back.”
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