After wildfire, CA’s small businesses struggle to rebuild in Altadena

More than a year after the Eaton Fire ripped through Los Angeles County’s Altadena neighborhood, small businesses in the area still face various hurdles as they struggle to recover from a disaster that killed at least 19 people.

As CalMatters’ Levi Sumagaysay explains, the wildfire destroyed more than 9,000 structures, wiping out about half of Altadena’s businesses. Many small business owners Levi spoke with brought up similar challenges as they try to get back on their feet, such as frustrating delays from insurance companies and limited assistance from federal and state governments.

Some help available to homeowners, for example, is not extended to small business owners. Matt Schodorf, a co-owner of an Altadena coffee shop that burned down, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency initially excluded the store for debris removal. It was only after he took his story to the media and received support from an L.A. County supervisor, Schodorf said, that FEMA included the shop in its debris cleanup.

• Schodorf: “It feels frustrating because it feels we are very small potatoes, especially from the perspective of the government. It doesn’t seem like it would be too much to ask: Waive permit fees, clean our lots out. Don’t make us go on national news pleading for help.”

State law also allows homeowners to get some upfront payouts from insurance companies without having to provide a full itemized inventory — a policy that isn’t extended to businesses and could lengthen the claims process.

For some business owners, the obstacles and the fallout from the fire, prove to be too much.

• Carrie Meyers, owner of a former Altadena pet store that burned down and won’t be reopened: “People want me back. But I don’t know if we can survive up there. No one lives there … mentally I’m not there.”

Read more here.

From CalMatters higher education reporter Mikhail Zinshteyn:

A bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers is backing a bill to place a bond measure before voters in 2026 on whether to approve $23 billion in science research funding.

Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, is leading the effort. He presents Senate Bill 895 as a California contingency plan to fund research into vaccines, wildfire prevention and other disciplines at a time when the Trump administration is either attempting to slash already approved research or install rules that halt funding for research that federal agencies used to support before President Donald Trump took office last year. 

When asked if the measure is necessary once Trump is out of office, Wiener said U.S. political instability may mean more federal science cuts even after Trump. 

• Wiener, to CalMatters during a press call Friday: “It’s important for California just to be like a rock in the storm, so that we’re just doing science here and investing in science … regardless of what’s happening with the federal government at that moment in time.”

Any drugs created with this state money would be discounted for Californians, according to the legislation. The funding would flow to California’s public universities and other research entities. The union of graduate student workers is also backing the bond.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is turning up the pressure on California cities and counties to do more to curb homeless encampments by adding new strings to homelessness funds, write Marisa Kendall and Ben Christopher.

In Mendocino County, for example, the state appears to be holding funds hostage — which were already approved in the 2024-25 budget and have recently become available — until the county can explain its plans to pass an encampment ordinance to the state, according to the senior program manager with the county’s Department of Social Services. But the new rule puts the social services department in a bind, since it doesn’t have the authority to weigh in on enforcement. 

Newsom, the Legislature, local officials and other stakeholders are also likely to continue hashing out the conditions for the $500 million in homelessness funding proposed in this year’s budget, which must be passed by late June.

This call for local governments to step up isn’t sitting well with some advocates. 

• Carolyn Coleman, executive director and CEO of the League of California Cities: “I worry that, one, we may leave more cities out. And, two, that we may cause delays in the ability to get more people housed sooner, which I think is the goal.”

Read more here.