Barger, Horvath Spearhead Disaster Recovery Rebuild Authority Launch
Los Angeles County Supervisors Kathryn Barger (R- Palmdale, Lancaster, Santa Clarita, San Marino, Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, portions of the San Gabriel Valley) and Lindsey P. Horvath (D- Western Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley, including Pacoima, Panorama City, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Calabasas, Malibu, Sylmar) won unanimous Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approval yesterday for a motion establishing the Los Angeles County Disaster Recovery Rebuild Authority.
Effective immediately, the county is staffing the Authority with a specialized team of 13 full-time positions dedicated to finalizing a comprehensive operational plan, aligning with One-Stop Permitting Centers, and advancing an Infrastructure Master Plan in coordination with affected communities.
“Today’s action sends a clear message: we are fully committed to bringing dedicated resources to rebuild this community,” Barger said. “The Rebuild Authority will consist of a lean, mission-driven team with a singular focus: cutting through red tape, accelerating the rebuilding of public infrastructure, and making sure every dollar of local, State, and federal funding available is put to work for the families and communities still struggling to return home.”
The scale of the challenge ahead is staggering. In Altadena alone, the county faces more than $2 billion in public infrastructure restoration costs — including transitioning more than 600 homes from septic to municipal sewer systems, addressing private and mutual water district infrastructure, and undergrounding utility lines.
“Sixteen months after the Palisades and Eaton Fires, families are still waiting to rebuild and communities are still working to recover,” Horvath said. “The creation of a Disaster Recovery Rebuild Authority will give Los Angeles County the dedicated leadership and coordination needed to rebuild at the scale this moment demands — accelerating infrastructure recovery, streamlining coordination across agencies, and helping bring people home faster.”
Barger recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with Congressional and Senate members and met directly with President Trump alongside Mayor Bass to advocate for nearly $8 billion in county recovery funding.
The Rebuild Authority is being built to scale rapidly as those critical funds begin to flow.
Hahn warns Catalina Island deer elimination plan could spark catastrophic wildfire
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn (D – San Pedro, Long Beach, Compton, Carson, Lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens, Cerritos) is calling on the Catalina Island Conservancy to abandon its plan to eliminate the island’s deer population, warning that a wildfire currently burning on Santa Rosa Island — where deer were eradicated in 2011 — is a direct preview of what could happen on an island where thousands of people live.
The fire on Santa Rosa Island, part of the Channel Islands National Park off the coast of Southern California, has burned more than 16,900 acres since it began Friday — the largest fire ever recorded in the island’s history — and remains 0% contained at post time.
Officials announced the fire was accidentally caused by emergency flares used by a shipwrecked sailor who was later rescued. Two historic structures have already been destroyed.
“We now know that this fire started accidentally, but the conditions that are allowing it to rage were deliberate: the deer population that used to graze brush on Santa Rosa Island was wiped out in 2011,” Hahn said. “Now we are seeing how quickly fire can move through heavy, unmanaged brush. The Catalina Island Conservancy has a plan to do the same thing on Catalina. Our own Fire Chief Tony Marrone has said that eliminating the entire deer population would increase the risk of wildfire on the island. Their plan is dangerous, and we are witnessing the potential consequences on Santa Rosa Island right now.”
Santa Rosa Island had a large mule deer population for decades before they were completely eradicated by the end of 2011 in an effort to restore the island’s native ecosystem and protect its natural vegetation. Hahn’s district includes two of the southern Channel Islands — Santa Catalina and San Clemente. Catalina Island has a permanent population of several thousand residents, primarily in the city of Avalon.
“Fortunately, Santa Rosa doesn’t have people living there — but Catalina Island has thousands,” Hahn said. “The Conservancy should be more reasonable and allow a small population of deer to remain and help protect Catalina from catastrophic fires like this one. I urge them to listen to the residents of Catalina and stand down.”
Solis, Mitchell implement task force recommendations on Latino homelessness
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda L. Solis (D – East Los Angeles, El Monte, Baldwin Park, Azusa) and Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (D – Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Compton) won Board of Supervisors approval yesterday for a motion directing county departments to implement recommendations from the Task Force on Latinx People Experiencing Homelessness.
According to the 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, approximately 31,291 people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County identify as Latino — representing 46% of the county’s entire unhoused population. In the San Gabriel Valley and East Los Angeles service planning areas, more than half of the people experiencing homelessness identify as Latino.
“Latino families continue to face disproportionate barriers to housing stability, economic opportunity and access to services,” Solis said. “We must confront the systemic inequities driving this crisis and ensure County systems are responsive to immigrant communities, mixed-status families, Indigenous communities and other vulnerable populations experiencing homelessness.”
The motion directs the County’s Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiative to lead countywide coordination and develop an implementation plan for the task force recommendations.
It also calls for expanded language access and culturally responsive services, stronger partnerships with immigrant-serving community organizations, improved coordination between the homelessness services system and the LA County Office of Immigrant Affairs, and collaboration with the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency on affordable housing development and renter protections. County departments will report back within 90 days with implementation plans and progress updates.
“In my district, which is home to 20% of the County’s Latinx population and 21% of the County’s Latinx population experiencing homelessness — this work is especially urgent,” Mitchell said.
Hochman charges social media influencer, her father and ex-boyfriend in dark web murder-for-hire plot
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced charges yesterday against a social media influencer, her father, and her then-boyfriend in connection with an alleged plot to hire a hitman on the dark web to kill the father of her 7-year-old daughter — a former member of the musical group Why Don’t We — in a bitter custody dispute that unfolded between 2020 and 2021.
Gabriela Lauren Gonzalez, 24, Francisco Gonzalez, 59, and Kai Faron Cordrey, 26, were each charged with one count of attempted murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and one count of solicitation of murder. Gabriela Gonzalez was arraigned Tuesday in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Francisco Gonzalez was arrested in Florida and is awaiting extradition.
“This is a case where the defendants are accused of going to great lengths to find someone to commit murder,” Hochman said. “Most fathers raise their children to respect the law, but here we have a dad who allegedly helped his daughter and her boyfriend break the law in the most sinister way imaginable.”
According to prosecutors, Gabriela Gonzalez became embroiled in a custody dispute with Jack Avery, a former member of the pop group Why Don’t We, over their daughter.
Between 2020 and 2021 she allegedly sought the assistance of her then-boyfriend Cordrey to hire someone on the dark web to kill Avery. In April 2021, Francisco Gonzalez allegedly wired $10,000 to Cordrey as front money, followed by an additional $4,000 two months later.
In September 2021, an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a hitman spoke with Cordrey, who prosecutors say identified Avery as the target and discussed payment and proof of death.
The case was initiated by the FBI before being turned over to the DA’s office. All three defendants face 25 years to life in state prison if convicted.
Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott of the Major Crimes Division is prosecuting.
