Newsom, in Altadena, signs laws to strengthen wildfire recovery system
Pasadena council resumes search for new city manager
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VOL. 17, 15,
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LA County to review proposals aimed at tracking so-called sheriff's gangs
Fire survivors, UCLA launch insurance survey
By City News Service
joet@civicnewsgroup.com
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he county Board of Supervisors Tuesday directed its staff to review a series of proposed measures aimed at identifying and cataloguing alleged deputy gangs within sheriff's department to see if any of the proposals would require discussions with the deputies' union before they could move forward. The board directed the county CEO, in conjunction with the sheriff, county attorneys and employee relations officials, to review the proposals included in a sweeping motion by Supervisor Holly Mitchell aimed at detailing the extent of deputy gangs within the department. The CEO was instructed to return with a report to the board in 30 days After ordering that review, the board then voted to delay its consideration of the actual proposed directives until the CEO completes its report. Mitchell was the lone dissenter in both votes, saying she wanted to proceed with her motion as a whole concurrently with the CEO review of possible union meet-and-confer issues. County CEO Joe Nicchitta noted that much of
Tattoos display affiliation with the Banditos and Executioners deputy gangs. | Photos courtesy of the Los Angeles County Office of Inspector General
Mitchell's motion only asks for reports on the process for moving ahead with various issues. He said preparing such reports likely will not require the county to confer with the union, but once the county tries to implement actual directives, some might require union talks. Overall, Mitchell's motion calls on county staff to take a series of steps toward identifying and cataloguing deputy gangs, asking that they report in 120 days with a "comprehen-
sive framework" for doing so. It also called on the sheriff and other county agencies to develop a process for publicly identifying gangs, but to develop a confidential report to the board in 120 days listing all suspected gangs in the department, a summary of the status of pending investigation concerning allegations relating to gangs and an explanation of whether current investigations include a requirement
By Joe Taglieri
for deputies to show tattoos on their arms and legs. Among other measures, the motion also called for the development of a public accessibly public reporting system to documents complaints and allegations of deputy gangs. Mitchell acknowledged that there has been progress within the department addressing the issue, and "the goal of today's motion is to keep that progress
See Sheriff's gangs Page 31
he Every Fire Survivor's Network and a team of UCLA researchers on Monday launched the L.A. Fire Survivor Insurance Survey, which organizers said is a first-of-its-kind effort to create an open public record of how insurers perform for families after disaster. The survey is on the internet at FireSurvey.org and will close when an adequate number of survivors have responded to create statistically meaningful results, according to the EFSN. No comprehensive public dataset exists to provide answers about insurance recovery from the Eaton and Palisades fires, EFSN members said. Key questions include: "Did some insurance companies systematically underinsure their policyholders? "How is each insurer handling smoke-damage claims? "Did some insurers systematically nonrenew policyholders and move them onto the FAIR Plan before the fires? "Which insurers show patterns of delays, underpayments or denials that warrant further investigation?
"Which insurers are communicating effectively and sending capable adjusters? "And which insurers fulfilled their contracts, paid survivors fully and on time, and did a stellar job helping their customers recover?" according to the advocacy organization initially called the Eaton Fire Survivors Network. A Los Angeles Times report on the five biggest California wildfires before 2025 found that eight years later, 38% of families who lost homes had rebuilt. The leading factor that determined who rebuilt was whether insurers paid in full and on time. The nonprofit Department of Angels reported that 70% of insured survivors of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires are facing delays, denials or underpayments that are delaying recovery efforts. That percentage was based on a survey of 1,983 adults in fire-impacted communities from June 3-11, 2025. According to the EFSN, insurers still owe LA fire survivors tens of billions of dollars. The survey aims
See Insurance survey Page 17
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