California Gov. Gavin Newsom (d) is busy recording a podcast with prominent conservatives in an apparent attempt to hone his qualifications as a presidential candidate in 2028. Meanwhile, his state fire victims are still suffering.
You may think that the best ads for presidential candidates will be a record of past successes. But it's not Newsom. He appears to think he can continue to fight the National Culture War without actually working from home.
Here are eight items that need his immediate attention:
1. I will trade shards. The LA area does not have enough landfill space to accommodate millions of tons of concrete, steel and other debris that must be removed from the thousands of burns from the Pallisard and Eton fires. Newsom will soon need to work with Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo (R) to arrange for the wreckage to accumulate there and work with trucking and railroad companies to ensure that it can be transported cheaply and safely.
2. Fix traffic issues. Daily lines of trucks and cars to enter the Pacific Ocean's Pallisard are a great resistance to removing and reconstructing debris. Residents and contractors will need to wait an hour on only two portals to Pacific Coast Highway (Province Route 1) and Paralysard on Sunset Boulevard. Both checkpoints are run by California State Guard personnel. California State Guard personnel frequently stop vehicles and stop IDs (ironically, the state doesn't do it at the voting booth).
As a leader in the world of high-tech innovation, there must be a better way. The governor should separate residential and vehicle traffic and install QR codes or license plate readers on security guards to speed up traffic.
3. Clean the beach and create a pier. The vast amount of material entering and leaving the Pacific Palisades is too big for existing roads to handle. Newsom must use state authority to clean the beach – now contaminated by fire spills – and perhaps near the former long w headed site, allowing for rapid imports of construction materials. Once the rebuild is complete, the pier can be demolished, but the rebuild must begin.
4. Reform insurance. California's insurance regulations force insurers to leave the state or eliminate policyholders. Many were dropped within weeks or days of the fire. States need to change rules and regulations to ensure healthy insurance markets can flourish. Additionally, homeowners who have lost their insurance must be fully committed through their own negligence. The governor should use the state's rainy day fund to help with this emergency.
Additionally, he must intervene in the event of failure of insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara, promoting major insurance companies (particularly state farms) and compensates homeowners 100% of the loss of personal property from the fire.
5. Remove anti-Trump lawsuit. While begging the Trump administration and Congress with $40 billion in federal funds, Newsmom has signed a $50 million expenditure in lawsuits to fight the administration's new policies and provide legal defenses to illegal foreigners. His stance is not just a waste of money, but it also creates responsiveness for the administration. This means that California residents are unlikely to get help. Newsom must be cooperative.
6. Release text and email. California residents deserve to know that La Fire caused the massive disaster they became. However, LA Mayor Karen Bass has deleted her text message, and now the governor has refused to publish his texts and emails with LA and Los Angeles County. For transparency, and to help Californians avoid future disasters, Newsom needs to be cleaned and freed up all his communications regarding fire.
7. Improve water, forestry and emergency services. It is not forbidden that Newsom was unable to build a new reservoir after taking office for more than six years (despite funding for the site reservoir). Moreover, he has failed to clean the brushes from the woodlands, and coordination between LA's emergency services is miserable. He should not wait until the next disaster. He needs to spend every moment to make sure California is ready.
8. We declare a suspension regarding the tax increase. Some longtime homeowners in the Pacific Ocean, particularly in Altadena, who may have bought their home decades ago, fear that even if the land is ruined, their land is worth more, and that they fear will face higher property taxes. Newsom only needs to ensure that a tax revaluation is for those whose property has lost its value. Not someone who faces a higher bill with a new rating.
Joel B. Pollack is a senior editor at Breitbart News; Breitbart News Sunday Sirius XM Patriot will be available Sundays from 7pm to 10pm (4pm to 7pm). He is the author of Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Daysyou can pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author Trump's Virtue: Lessons and Legacy of President Donald TrumpIt is now available on Audible. He is the winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpollak.
