Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass backtracked Saturday amid reports that her wildfire recovery emperor Steve Soborov would compensate $500,000 for a 90-day work.
Los Angeles Times On Saturday morning, Soboroff, a property developer and longtime civic employee, first reported that he would be paid $500,000 over three months to work as the city's “Chief Recovery Officer.”
His compensation was to come from a charity, but Bass, who first tapped Soboroff on January 17th, quickly turned the course back by Saturday evening. She said Soborov would now manage the city's reconstruction for free.
“Steve is always there for LA. I spoke to him today and asked him to revise his agreement and work for free. He said yes,” Bus said. “We agree that we don't need anything to distract us from the recovery work we're doing.”
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Mayor Karen Bass and Steve Soborov will discuss recovery efforts at a press conference held at Pacific Pallisard on January 27, 2025. (Getty Images via Drew A. Kelley/Medianews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram)
Another person, longtime real estate executive Randy Johnson, was to be compensated $250,000 by a charity to support Soborov, but he would now work for free, according to Bus. said.
At Johnson, Bass said he “awesome his generosity and expertise,” but the mayor's office will name the charity and clarify how the funds were raised. I refused to do so.
Los Angeles City Councilman Monica Rodriguez is a member of the five-person committee tasked with recovering, and when the charity calls it “indecent” it's “furious” that the charity pays the two of them $750,000. He spoke.
“Is he paid $500,000 for three months of work?” Rick Grenell, the envoy of President Donald Trump's special mission, wrote about Soborov's X. “And they call this charity. Gross, offensive.”
On January 11, 2025, a helicopter will drop water as the fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon area and Encino, California. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP Getty Images)
“I'm paid $0, like many people. It's good to have strings in California's federal money,” said Grenell, who sat next to Trump during a roundtable meeting at Pacific Palisades last month. That's what it means.
Larry Bain, a resident of Palisades in the Pacific whose home was damaged by smoke, has reported Soborov's $500,000 compensation and said no one should handle recovery efforts for “financial profits.” I stated.
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Steve Danton, who lives in a temporary apartment in Marina Del Rey, said Soborov's compensation was in “the hands of money” after the Palisade fire destroyed his home, and the city said the city was “a leadership crisis.” He added that he has experienced this.
Soborov, who previously served as a volunteer role on the committee that oversees the Police Commission and the Recreation Bureau, defended the $500,000 amount in the Times before Saturday.
A burnt house and a burnt car at the Pacific Pallisard Bowl Mobile Estate, which was hit by a severe fire in Los Angeles on January 13, 2025. (Agustin Paulier/AFP via Getty Images)
He said he will be a wildfire recovery emperor with specialized expertise, taking on drastic responsibilities, including communicating with federal agencies, giving up other real estate and environmental consulting jobs.
“I've done this for free for 35 years on some of the city of Los Angeles' biggest civic projects. But no one ever asked me to drop everything. “And I said OK.” “My salary is not taken from city money or from wildfire survivors who would otherwise benefit from that money.” ”
Soboroff was asked by “thousands of residents,” made recommendations about the city, advised the mayor to hire an external project manager, and led urban agencies instead of damaged infrastructure.
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“At the end, I'm doing what all these other people just study,” he said. “I'm implementing it to help people achieve their goal of returning home and getting their jobs back.”
