City Officials Detail Draft Recovery Plan in Webinar

This article was originally written for the Palisadian-Post, published May 21, 2026.

Deputy Mayor of Infrastructure Randall Winston and consultants from AECOM presented the draft Long-Term Recovery Plan to residents during a public webinar Tuesday, May 19.

City officials walked Pacific Palisades residents through the 295-page draft Long-Term Recovery Plan for the first time during a webinar on Tuesday, May 19. The officials outlined 61 proposed projects and fielded more than 30 audience questions on topics ranging from undergrounding power lines to whether swimming pools could be tapped for firefighting.

The roughly 90-minute webinar, led by Deputy Mayor of Infrastructure Randall Winston, offered the most detailed public look yet at what the city envisions for the Palisades over the next five-plus years—and how much of that vision remains unfunded.

Of the 61 projects in the plan, only nine are fully funded and 15 are partially funded, Jonathan Jenkins, director of disaster resilience at consulting firm AECOM, told attendees. The rest will need to secure money through the city’s budget cycle, FEMA public assistance grants, hazard mitigation programs or other sources.

“If they’re in the plan, the city has made a commitment to that project thus far,” Jenkins said.

Susan Ambrosini, a vice president at AECOM who presented the bulk of the plan’s six Recovery Support Functions, acknowledged the document’s density—a point raised by an attendee who called it difficult to grasp for the average reader—and said an executive summary will be included in the final version.

“We’re not going to create a short list, because all of these projects we see as very, very important for a holistic recovery,” said Ambrosini, who is also the urbanism and planning practice lead at AECOM. “But we absolutely will include an executive summary.”

Among the most closely watched projects are the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s plans to underground power lines in the Palisades, which Winston said are already well into the planning phase. An attendee asked whether telecom companies would be required to underground their infrastructure as well. A DWP representative said the agency’s discussions with telecom providers have been “positive and productive,” and Winston added that Mayor Karen Bass and Councilwoman Traci Park sent a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission urging telecom companies to coordinate with the DWP. The PUC has since opened a proceeding on the matter.

On water infrastructure, Ambrosini said the Santa Ynez Reservoir—currently empty and undergoing repairs—will likely be refilled by December 2026. The reservoir serves as both a drinking water source and a backup firefighting water supply. Milad Taghavi of L.A. DWP clarified that the reservoir supplements the primary water supply from the Westgate Trunk Line, meaning it would be available for both purposes once back in service.

Attendees also pressed city officials on road and sidewalk conditions. Ana Tabuena-Ruddy, assistant director at StreetsLA, said the city is “actively prioritizing locations” for repairs and may have year-end savings from its pavement preservation program to address some immediate needs. However, the plan indicates that many of the planned street and sidewalk repairs listed in the LTRP are currently unfunded.

One proposal addressed during the question-and-answer period was the Local Coastal Program for the Palisades, which would give the city more permitting authority in the coastal zone and reduce the role of the California Coastal Commission in reviewing individual projects. Lisa Webber, a deputy director at the Department of City Planning, said her department has been developing an LCP for the Venice community for several years and could launch a similar effort for the Palisades once funding and staffing are available.

Winston also addressed a question about federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding. Congress appropriated $1.6 billion in CDBG-DR funds for Maui in December 2024—roughly 16 months after the Lahaina wildfire. Los Angeles is now past the 16-month mark since the Palisades Fire with no congressional appropriation.

Winston said the mayor has been advocating for CDBG-DR funding at every level and noted it was among the top issues Bass raised directly with President Donald Trump during a recent meeting in the Oval Office.

“We are working, the mayor’s working with other partners in pushing for a federal appropriation,” Winston said.

Beyond the policy details, several attendees pressed officials on whether public input would actually shape the final plan. Ambrosini said her team reads every submission in detail.

“We see this as an opportunity, not a box to be checked,” Ambrosini said. “Without community feedback, it’s not going to be the right fit for the community, and there’s going to be opportunities that are overlooked.”

The 45-day public comment period runs through June 29. Comments can be submitted at the city’s recovery website or emailed to palisadescommunity@aecom.com.

Immediately following the webinar, the Pacific Palisades Community Council held a separate meeting on the plan’s proposed Disaster Recovery District, a tax-increment financing tool that could become the primary funding mechanism for many of the plan’s unfunded projects. Click here for related story.