00:00I'm here in Pacific Palisades, 19 months after the Palisades Fire of January 7th, 2025.
00:05And this weekend, the Palisades Village Mall, an important local landmark, is reopening.
00:11It's an important milestone in the recovery of the community.
00:15And it is a sign of some of the progress that's going on.
00:17But there are also many obstacles.
00:19Many people are struggling to rebuild.
00:21They're fighting with insurance companies.
00:22They can't get permits they need to rebuild.
00:25And so it's really a mixed story at this stage.
00:28Even for those of us whose homes survived, as mine did behind me, there are many challenges.
00:34And when you've made some progress, there's always some new obstacle in your way.
00:38Today, for example, I arrived to film this video and discovered that the large and beautiful tree in my front
00:45yard had simply been cut down without any notice or explanation.
00:48Last week, I hired a gardener to take care of the tree, and the city appears to have gotten rid
00:54of the tree.
00:54They did so without permission.
00:57They did so without notice.
00:59And that, unfortunately, has been the common experience of many residents here.
01:04Things are done to you, one after the other.
01:06The disaster, in that sense, keeps happening.
01:08And when you do see rebuilding happening, it's because people have simply decided to rebuild with whatever resources they have,
01:14even if they can't get the insurance money, even if they're getting pushback from the city or the county.
01:19And even though they're getting almost no help from the state of California, and even though even the Trump administration
01:24sometimes seems difficult to reach, this rebuilding effort is entirely the outcome of the will of the people of Pacific
01:33Palisades to rebuild.
01:34And it is happening, and it is real, but it is very, very difficult.
01:39And our government, sadly, has more often been a hindrance than a help.
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