Mayor Bass Appoints Steve Soboroff As Chief Recovery Officer to Kickoff the City’s Massive Rebuild Effort

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Urgent Work to Rebuild Our Communities

LOS ANGELES - Mayor Karen Bass today announced that she has appointed Steve Soboroff to serve as the Chief Recovery Officer for the City of Los Angeles to kickoff the City's massive rebuild and recovery effort, which was initiated by her Emergency Executive Order earlier this week. Working directly with her and with the assistance of the full breadth of her Administration and City Departments, he is charged with recommending a comprehensive City strategy for rebuilding and expediting the safe return of residents, workers, businesses, schools, nonprofits, libraries and parks in areas devastated by the fires that started last week. This effort's top priority is to clear the way for Los Angeles residents to rapidly rebuild the homes and community they lost.

"Our absolute priority is to return Angelenos to their homes and rebuild," said Mayor Bass. "Steve knows our communities, he knows how to activate City Hall, he knows how to engage the public, business, non profit and philanthropic resources needed for this massive effort. There is no one better equipped to create our rebuilding plan. We will work closely together to move a strategy forward to rebuild neighborhoods that are stronger, more resilient and more united than ever before. I am enormously grateful that Steve Soboroff agreed to give himself to Los Angeles once again."

"This work is about Angelenos' collective hope for the future," Soboroffsaid. "For every resident, it may be the hope to return to a community they love as soon as possible. For others, it's how to survive until they get to return to work in this 103-year old community. Our mission is to start building a clear, practical and doable path to the Palisades and everywhere help is needed in LA. That work starts now, and we ask for everyone's positive participation."

The announcement was made today at a Bureau of Street Services yard that serves the Palisades and other communities.

Initial actions that Soboroff will pursue within 90 days include:

• Working with residents, businesses and workers, LAFD, LAPD, the Emergency Management Department, the Bureau of Public Works and other city agencies in developing a clear and defined protocol to ensure residents can safely access their property and to protect their properties until residents can return.

• Developing an implementation framework for the Mayor's first emergency executive order for debris removal and streamlined rebuild approvals

• Creating a detailed program to rebuild and open parks and libraries

• Creating an "all solutions in" system to share resources and best practices in areas including, but not limited to: debris removal and watershed, residential and commercial rebuild, public infrastructure and resilience, long-term economic recovery

This task is personal for Steve Soboroff, who raised his family in the Pacific Palisades. Steve is an accomplished real estate developer renowned for his civic leadership and ability to advance the most complex civic initiatives. This includes organizing for the California Science Center's dramatic transportation and installation of the Space Shuttle Endeavor, and serving as Senior Advisor in the Office of Mayor Richard Riordan during the Northridge Earthquake, where he was essential to the development of the Staples Center and surrounding area. As CEO and Chairman of Playa Vista, he spearheaded the development of an entirely new Los Angeles neighborhood. He is former President of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners and the Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners, and was a member of the Board of Harbor Commissioners. He has also served as Chairman of the Weingart Foundation, Chairman of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University and as a Senior Fellow and member of the Advisory Board at UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs.