Grinning gargoyle Karen Bass, the Los Angeles mayor with Communist roots, is hiring someone to help with the 'rebuilding' of the formerly idyllic Pacific Palisades area.

Now, there are some questions about what 'outside' is going to mean, as the fellow she tapped almost two weeks ago to be the 'Chief Recovery Officer' is well-known in Los Angeles.

...Soboroff said he had a 10-point plan that he would initiate on his first day of duty.

"This is about the victims...it's about restoring community because without community, people are lost," Soboroff said.

Bass named Soboroff, a former police commissioner and advisor to the late former Mayor Richard Riordan, leader of the city's rebuilding efforts in the widespread aftermath of the wildfire.

"Steve Soboroff's name is attached to hope," Bass said when announcing his role. "He will recommend a comprehensive city strategy for rebuilding and for expediting. Expediting is a very important word here. We want to expedite the return of residents, businesses, schools, nonprofits and parks."

 He has developed the Staples Center, among other projects.

...Bass said "no one is better equipped to create a rebuilding plan" than Soboroff, former president of the city Police Commission and a longtime businessman who spearheaded development the arena now known as Crypto.com Arena downtown and the Playa Vista community. He also led efforts to coordinate the complex move of the space shuttle Endeavour through the streets of Los Angeles to the California Science Center.

"People in L.A. are hurting," Soboroff said. "They are frustrated, like the mayor said. They're confused. They want to know what they can do today. They can't get back to their homes to find the pictures of their loved ones. And a whole lot of people are out of work, as a community has been wiped off the face of the Earth. A community that's about 120 years old. I lived in it. My kids grew up in it for 40 years.

This Steve Soboroff? https://t.co/08fMYYWYXH pic.twitter.com/Yi6WQDEkjC

— NOlympics LA (@NOlympicsLA) January 18, 2025

But he's more of her personal aide and advisor - the Recovery Czar, they've tagged him - as the city searches for a firm to handle the rebuilding process, and this is where it's going to get very sticky.

The city of Los Angeles is planning to hire an outside consultant to handle a significant rebuilding contract for areas devastated by this month’s Palisades fire, Mayor Karen Bass said Monday.

The firm will represent the city’s interests in the wildfire recovery process, including performing damage assessments, monitoring air and water quality, interacting with various federal agencies and ensuring that the city gets as much federal reimbursement as possible, said Steve Soboroff, who was named by Bass as the city’s chief recovery officer.

The announcement came during a freewheeling half-hour walking tour in Pacific Palisades that Bass and Soboroff held for reporters and some residents Monday afternoon. The walk-and-talk was the first time Soboroff and Bass took questions together since she announced his role Jan. 17 in leading the first phase of the city’s recovery on Jan. 17.

Details about the scope of the forthcoming contract remain scant, but Bass said Monday that the city was in the midst of reviewing proposals from “major firms” and pledged to make a decision this week.

Los Angelenos, well acquainted with the cozy relationship between Bass, Soboroff, and developers in the LA area, already have their suspicious hackles raised.

Why Soboroff, they ask? Were other developers or experts even considered for this post? Like, maybe, Rick Caruso - the brilliant fellow who ran against Bass and lost?

🔹 Who’s the Outside Consulting Firm?

LA is hiring a mystery consulting firm to manage the rebuild. But no name has been announced yet.

🚨 Who are they?
🚨 How were they chosen?
🚨 Are they tied to Soboroff or Bass politically?

Angelenos deserve transparency on how this money…

— Angeleno Insights (@AngelenoInsight) January 30, 2025

There have also been recent changes to local statutes that happened prior to the fires that have residents tremendously concerned.

CORRUPTION: California updated the law to allow Mayors like Karen Bass to take contributions from contractors and consultants to the city if they are award via competitive bid starting on Jan 1, 2025. This exemption is significant because it means that vendors winning contracts… pic.twitter.com/Ivpai2ZVUt

— @amuse (@amuse) January 29, 2025

Breitbart's Joel Pollock, who so famously spoke out at the press conference in LA where President Trump read Karen Bass the riot act, has raised his own doubts about the transparency of the process and notes that residents will have little input.

Even as they have yet to have access to their own pieces of scorched earth, in spite of all the mayor's assurances to the contrary.

...Soboroff claimed that the consultant would represent locals — despite the complete lack of notice or consultation. He also suggested that the consultant would control the federal money entering California to deal with the fire damage.

Locals have had virtually no input into any of the decisions currently being made by city and state officials. Most were only able to access their property for the first time on Monday, after direct intervention by President Donald Trump.

...Update: Breitbart News caught up with Soboroff: “Soboroff clarified that the ‘consultant’ will be an ‘owner’s rep’ to oversee the work of the various agencies involved, much like a construction manager on a building project. He said there would be a competitive bidding process for the role.”

They're going to try to pull off an equity and climate cult build in real time.

You can almost smell it in the air.