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Last week as L.A.’s fire recovery emperor, Steve Soborov said he was locked out of almost high-level plans from the start, raising questions about why Mayor Karen Bass chose him and whether the reconstruction from the Parisades fire is on track.
A longtime civic leader who likes to speak his heart prefers to speak at least a bit of patience with stuffed toy protocols, but was hired for three months on a salary of $500,000 by a nonprofit to fund it. However, Soborov agreed to work for free after burning responsibilities from Pacific Palisade residents and others.
Soboroff was initially tasked with creating a comprehensive strategy for reconstruction, where the position announced in the Fanfare in mid-January, but his role quickly reduced dramatically.
“They haven’t asked me to do anything with nothing for a month and a half,” Soboroff said in a 90-minute exit interview with The Times on Tuesday.
However, he claimed he had still worked long hours, helping Pallisard rebuild the fire that killed 12 people and destroyed nearly 7,000 homes and other structures. He acts as a fixer of sorts and continues to be present in the community frequently based on his long history as a developer and his long history as a bulging Rorodex to connect people.
Signs of his exclusion from Bass’ inner circle came within two weeks of his appointment. The mayor informed him of her decision to reopen Palisade to the public. When the reporters reached, Soborov was unaware of the reopening plan and he was openly expressing his disapproval – a very unusual move for the mayor’s appointee. Bass reversed her decision the next day amid criticism from councillor Traci Park and others.
“I’ve known Steve for many years, but he’s not too far away so he knows I’ll continue to contact,” Bass said at a public event at the Pacific Palisade that Soborov wasn’t invited to attend.
He said it was “possible” for the mayor’s office to find him “too aggressive” but he didn’t understand why he was locked out of the city’s recovery plan. He said he is accepting extensions beyond the 90-day contract.
“I was not invited to the press conference either,” Soborov said. “People say, ‘Well, why don’t you feel offended?’ I was so busy that I had to do it all.
Soboroff said he helped coordinate ground efforts with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, bringing about fixed issues with mental health experts that have arisen.
On Thursday evening, Bass spokesman Zach Seidl said: “Steve sent a confusing message to residents, but we appreciate his service and contributions, and this is the bottom line.
Soborov, who became mayor in 2001 and was a strong supporter of Bass during the 2022 election, raised his family in Pallisad. He helped bring crypto.com arena (formerly Staples Center) to downtown Los Angeles and piloted the development of Playa Vista. He also served on the Police Commission and other urban commissions.
Soborov said he is wondering whether the mayor wants someone in his demographic in the 2022 election to provide political coverage in Parisades, a wealthy white neighbour who heavily supported the rich majority of white Rick Caruso.
After fussing about his salary, Soborov vented his frustration at a private event at Tony Harvard West Lake School and said he lied. Soborov returned the comments after an audio recording of his appearance reached the press.
Soborov said the mayor sent a shrug emoji with “wow” link to the Times story about his Harvard Westlake remarks. He then apologized to her very much, he said.
In an interview with The Times on Tuesday, Soboroff stopped directly criticizing Bass and offered praise to her team.
However, he expressed doubts about Hagerty Consulting, an Illinois-based company, and became the city’s leading fire recovery contractor in early February, helping to recover infrastructure and mitigate the environment by up to $10 million in a year, according to a contract with the city. He believes the city should have hired global engineering company AECOM instead.
In Soboroff’s story, Hagerty representatives were unable to provide a clear response when asked about the scope of their work by multiple people during a meeting of community stakeholders.
“I told them, “You know, you were asked twice by two different people what you’re doing, and you didn’t give an answer. I think your contract is millions of dollars a month. But you didn’t give an answer.
Two non-publicly confirmed participants publicly confirmed Soboroff’s explanation of the meeting.
When asked if the issue was that he was the chief recovery officer and the city’s leading consultants on recovery efforts were not sure what they were doing, Soborov said “F-A.”
When he was asked to clarify the meaning of the exp, and whether he had used it to highlight the issue, Soborov said, “Of course you’re kidding me?”
Hagerty representatives did not respond when asked what happened at the meeting and about the company’s work on fire recovery.
Soborov on Tuesday thought the pitch that Ecom gave to the city in late January was “one of the best presentations ever made in the world,” while Hagerty’s pitch was one of the “worst presentations ever made in world history.”
He leaves his posts in mixed reviews in a community where he has deep roots.
Joseph Edmiston, who ran the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and lost his home in the Palisade fire, praised Soborov’s work and said he cleverly united people.
“Steve, like all of us, if you put the microphone in front of his face, he can be stationed from time to time. But I think we need someone who has his approach, meaning we’ll get the job done,” Edmiston said. He explained how Soboroff brokered a deal to use the Army Corps of Engineers contracts and Conservancy Land as the Debris Sorting site.
However, others did not respect Soborov’s performance much.
“If Steve felt like he was shutting out, it was probably because he wasn’t shortage,” said Mariam Zar, Chair Honor of the Pacific Palisades Community Council and convener of the Parek-Ebai Union.
Zar said Soboroff has failed to provide the kind of response that community members expect and appears to lack official information from the city.
On the final day, Soborov expressed frustration that city officials repeatedly said they were “under control” without dealing with details with him.
He raised concerns about the thousands of gas and electric meters the city needs as the home is being rebuilt. If the meter has not been ordered yet, there could be a serious delay, he said. He believes that cities should outsource permits and inspections in Pallisard, the process will move faster.
Soboroff also said tech company Palantir has agreed to design a one-stop information app for Palisades Recovery, “three-quarters built” for five years, running it for free, saving about $5 million a year. But the city is “sitting on paper,” and has yet to move forward, Soborov said.
When asked about Soboroff’s concerns, Bass’ Office did not respond.
Bus said the city was in the process of appointing a new chief recovery officer at an event in Parisades Thursday.
Soborov was surprised that city officials had not consulted him about his successor. However, he said he heard about the search as soon as headhunting company Korn Ferry began making calls a few weeks ago.
“First of all, they didn’t tell me about it. Ok, they don’t need to. “This is my town. You don’t think people will call me?”
Times staff writers Dakota Smith, Sandy Yakanbanpati and Roger Vincent contributed to this report.
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