TONIGHT at 7p: Let’s talk insurance + utility accountability
What happened. What’s next. What we each can do.
Hey everyone,
A LOT has happened in the last few weeks! We helped stop a utility bailout in Sacramento. Los Angeles County sued State Farm using EFSN evidence. We co-sponsored three insurance reform bills. And we’re taking legal action to force State Farm and the CDI to follow the law.
Tonight, I’ll take you inside what happened, what’s coming, and what each of us can do next.
7:00 to about 7:35p: INSURANCE. We’ll talk about our legal and legislative work, and I’ll take you inside the L.A. Fire Insurance Survey: what we’re looking for, and how survivors will be able to see how their insurer stacks up.
7:35 to 8:00p: UTILITY ACCOUNTABILITY. What just happened in Sacramento, what we learned, and where we go from here.
It promises to be a fun and fascinating conversation. I’ll be the speaker, with Malibu survivor Wade Major and Altadena survivor Paul Fedors moderating and bringing your questions and comments into the conversation.
All survivors, allies and journalists welcome. My remarks are on the record; all other survivor comments are off the record. Bring your dinner, settle in and join us online!
JOIN TONIGHT’S 7P TOWN HALL:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_twmor1-uRsapmH4yg1wWwg
Now we hold EVERY insurer accountable.
We’ve seen what happens when survivors document what’s happening to us.
The 1,600 firsthand accounts you shared with EFSN about our State Farm problems helped Los Angeles County build its case against State Farm. And they’re powering our state legal action to hold State Farm and the CDI accountable.
Now we’re building the evidence on every insurer in the L.A. fire recovery.
We’ll measure underinsurance, claims misconduct, delays and denials, customer satisfaction and trust, insurer by insurer.
We’ll anonymize and publicly release the results, creating transparency around problems while also giving credit to insurers that are getting it right.
Take the survey and you’ll get access to the tools we build from the results, so you can see how YOUR insurer stacks up.
This first-of-its-kind dataset could fuel investigations, enforcement, new laws and reporting.
Make sure YOUR insurer is part of the evidence.
Homeowners. Renters. FAIR Plan policyholders. Condo owners. Insured or uninsured. Destroyed home or smoke damage.
Take the survey at FireSurvey.org. Build the evidence. See how your insurer stacks up.
Survivors are shaping a better future for all
If the last few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that survivors are civic leaders helping expand who gets to come home, from our fires and future disasters too.
This week, TV, print and radio across California reported on the impact our community is having. Two pieces captured something important about what we’re building.
POLITICO profiles one person in the news each Friday, and I was honored to be profiled last week by POLITICO’s Camille von Kaenel.
What meant the most to me was seeing a major news story describe the three pillars that guide everything we do at EFSN:
Connect survivors to one another and trusted resources.
Grow survivor voice and agency.
Fix broken systems and unlock the money families are owed so we can get home.
News outlets sometimes describe us as an advocacy group. We’re not. We’re a nonprofit organization serving 10,000+ Eaton and Palisades survivors.
And we don't start with, “Who are our allies?” or “Who are our enemies?”
We start with: Is this good policy or bad policy for survivors and Californians?
That can create some strange bedfellows.
During the utility bailout fight, tongues wagged across Sacramento about Consumer Watchdog and EFSN ending up on the same side as the insurance lobby, with which we fight like the dickens on insurance reform. POLITICO asked me about this. My answer was basically: if you're committed to fighting bad policy, you may sometimes end up in bed with strange people. Doesn't mean you stay married.
Legislators and staffers were eager to hear what EFSN thought of the compromise bill SB 492. We studied it, talked with experts and wrote a NEUTRAL letter explaining what worked and what still needed to be fixed.
We also took this as an opportunity to lift up the many extraordinary organizations doing this work alongside us, so we invited them to sign on. I’m so glad POLITICO linked to our neutral letter so political insiders across California could see this beautiful coalition.
Survivors, consumers, faith communities, civil rights organizations, recovery groups and local leaders from fire-impacted communities.
We’re proud to stand with all these nonprofit partners, and we want legislators to listen to all of them.
See what political insiders across California are reading about EFSN this week in POLITICO.
Ashley Zavala opened her powerful platform to survivors
Each Sunday, KCRA/NBC Political Director Ashley Zavala hosts California Politics 360, the Sunday political show watched across California.
This week, when the talk around the building was all about what PG&E and Edison’s lobbyists and legislators were saying, she had me on to talk about the question underneath this entire fight:
Two of California’s for-profit utility monopolies have caused three of the five most destructive fires ever recorded. Why are we debating how to protect these two companies after they cause more fires, instead of investigating why they keep causing them while California’s third for-profit utility and publicly owned utilities don’t? What can we learn from that to make California safer?
Ashley also invited the CEOs of California's three utility monopolies to explain what they want from lawmakers. PG&E declined, and Edison and Sempra had not responded when the program was produced.
Watch the 3-minute condensed segment or the 17-minute full interview with me,
Remembering Mr. Gerald Freeny
We often say that 19 people died in the Eaton Fire, and 12 people died in the Palisades Fire.
Truth is, we’ve lost many more people in the long aftermath of those fires.
This week, Eaton Fire survivor Gerald Freeny died at 66. Gerald’s home was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, and he was hospitalized that terrible night. He was a lifelong Pasadenan, devoted civic leader and the first Black president in the history of the Tournament of Roses. He broke a barrier that had stood for more than a century and used his place in the community to bring people together.
Thank you to survivor James E. Jones for writing me to make sure Gerald is remembered when we talk about those we have lost to these fires.
The beautiful photo above captures part of Mr. Freeny’s legacy. That’s Pasadena NAACP President Brandon Lamar beside him, one of the many people Mr. Freeny touched and mentored. I love seeing these two generations of community leadership together.
Read the moving Pasadena Star-News obituary.
Community announcements
Come Back Home: Help for reconnecting and rebuilding, Sunday, September 13
Join LIFT International Pastor Anthony McFarland and me and get help from recovery organizations with rebuilding, funding, resources and legal questions. Sunday, September 13, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at LIFT, 1757 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena. For more information: 626-797-6056.
Press conference: Protect disaster case management for fire survivors, Thursday, September 10
The Eaton Fire Collaborative invites survivors and community partners to call on FEMA to release already-approved disaster case management funding supporting 1,000+ households and scheduled to end September 30. Thursday, September 10, 9 a.m. at the Eaton Fire Collaboratory, 540 W. Woodbury Road, Altadena.
AltaMed Wildfire Community Advisory Ice Cream Social, Saturday, September 12
AltaMed invites fire-impacted families for ice cream, resources and conversation to help shape its wildfire recovery work. Saturday, September 12, 1 to 5 p.m. at The Collaboratory, 540 W. Woodbury Rd., Altadena.
Saint Mark’s School is rebuilding, Thursday, September 24
Saint Mark’s invites the community to hear its rebuilding plans, ask questions and share feedback. Thursday, September 24, 6 to 8 p.m. at The Collaboratory, 540 W. Woodbury Road, Altadena. https://saint-marks.org/rebuild/
New L.A. County housing help for fire survivors
L.A. County’s new one-stop portal connects fire survivors with rental and mortgage assistance, utility assistance, tenant protections, legal aid, housing navigation and benefits.
https://lacounty.gov/prevention/
There is so much happening right now, and I know how much we all are enduring.
But look at what survivors are doing together. We’re helping each other get home. And we’re using what happened to us to make things better for the families who come after us.
I’m so grateful to be in this with all of you.
Take the survey at FireSurvey.org:firesurvey.org
And come join us tonight at 7p. I’d love to see you there!
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_twmor1-uRsapmH4yg1wWwg
With love,
Joy