Facing backlash over $500K salary, LA's wildfire recovery czar agrees to work for free

LOS ANGELES — 

Steve Soboroff, a longtime fixture successful Los Angeles civic beingness who is present serving arsenic main betterment serviceman for the city’s wildfire comeback, won’t instrumentality a wage aft facing backlash implicit plans to wage him $500,000. He would person been paid done charitable donations, not with payer money.

Soboroff had defended the projected wage of half-a-million dollars for 3 months of work, saying his expertise arsenic a residential spot developer made him worthy the price. But aft criticisms mounted from elected officials and residents, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reversed people implicit the play and said Soboroff would person nary compensation. Soboroff is the city’s erstwhile constabulary commissioner.

“Steve is ever determination for LA. I spoke to him contiguous and asked him to modify his statement and enactment for free. He said yes. We hold that we don’t request thing distracting from the betterment enactment we’re doing," Bass said successful a connection Saturday. She had named him to the betterment czar presumption connected Jan. 17.

A connection seeking remark was near for Soboroff connected Monday.

Soboroff, 76, raised his household successful the Pacific Palisades area, wherever astir 7,000 homes were destroyed by past month's inferno. His son, NBC News writer Jacob Soboroff, reported from the devastated vicinity wherever helium grew up.

He was initially tasked with starring the archetypal signifier of the city’s wildfire rebuilding effort. On Friday though, Bass suggested that the scope of his enactment could beryllium diminished, saying helium would absorption chiefly connected rebuilding the Palisades’ historical concern district.

Soboroff disputed that notion, saying helium is regularly interacting with national agencies.

In summation to processing thousands of homes implicit decades, Soboroff served connected the city’s Board of Police Commissioners and connected the metropolis committee that oversees the Department of Recreation and Parks — some unpaid positions.

Before the wage reversal, helium told the Los Angeles Times that helium enactment speech different existent property and biology consulting enactment to instrumentality connected the relation of the city's betterment officer.

“I’ve been doing this for 35 years for escaped connected immoderate of the biggest civic projects for the metropolis of Los Angeles. But cipher ever asked maine to driblet everything. This clip they did,” Soboroff said. “And I said OK, nether the information that my wage not beryllium taken retired of metropolis money, oregon from immoderate wildfire survivors who would different payment from that money.”

It wasn't wide which charitable organizations would person covered his pay. Los Angeles City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who sits connected the committee overseeing the recovery, called the projected wage “obscene.”

Soboroff’s archetypal wage was archetypal reported by the Times.