McMillan, Acquanette (Netta)
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cityclerk
Monday, August 17, 2026 8:04 AM
Iraheta, Alba; Jomsky, Mark; Robles, Sandra; Sabha, Tamer; McMillan, Acquanette (Netta); Soo, Christine
FW: Public comment - item #11 of Pasadena City Council meeting for August 17 From: Adam Bray-Ali < _. , , , com>
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2026 8:03:19 AM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) To: cityclerk <[email protected]>
Cc: City_Council <[email protected]>
Subject: Public comment - item #11 of Pasadena City Council meeting for August 17 [ I ] CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button (PAB). For more information about the PAB view article "KB0011474" on the DolT portal.
Good morning Council and Mayor,
On your agenda tonight, item #11 is a vote to waive permit fees for fire related repairs and the estimate is that this will reduce revenue to the city by over $100,000.
Given the council discussions overthe past month, where a clearfinancialperilwas described and subsequently used to place a parcel tax on the upcoming ballot, you seem obligated to make the tough choice and NOT waive revenue due to the city for permits and work that will cost the city in money and resources.
This sounds terrible but the reality is that you have all stated for many months how dire the financial situation in the Pasadena city budget is and how everyone needs to sharpen their pencils. Waiving fees for people struggling with the impact of the fires means the city will lose that revenue for fire department expenses, staff expenses and the other city business.
It is not inconsistent to be kind to our neighbors while also being fiscally responsible to the city.
Please vote no on this agenda item.
Thankyou,
Adam Bray-Ali
08/17/2026
Item 11
McMillan, Acquanette (Netta)
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Mia Hanna
Monday, August 17, 2026 3:29 PM
PublicComment-AutoResponse
Urgent: Waiving permit fees
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Dear City of Pasadena Mayor, and Council Members;
My family and I would greatly appreciate it, if you would kindly waive the permitfeesfor all those affected by the Eaton Fire, until our home(s) have been restored to pre-fire conditions.
Our home while left standing is so heavily contaminated that it remains unlivable. To make matters worse, we continue to fight with Liberty Mutual Insurance (to no avail so far), another denials to abate/clean our house to the level of what is recommended by the EPA, OSHA, and other government bodies, plus Private certified industrial hygienists.
The cost of hiring experts and being out of our home for such an extended time as a fire refugee has taken a huge toll on us as both a financial burden and an emotional burden. We keep insisting that Liberty Mutual removes all neurotoxins and carcinogens from our home. We want to return to our beloved Pasadena community and live in our home, in a safe toxin free environment.
It would be greatly appreciated if you would waive the permit fees for any and all facets of remediation/restoration/ construction that will occur as a result of the Eaton fire. By you helping and supporting your citizens during this tragic time, you ultimately assist us with being able to continue to pay utilities every month, city taxes, property taxes, etc., as we must still continue to maintain our vacant homes while empty, and they remain in desperate need of abatement, demolition and reconstruction.
Thank you in advance for your kind and careful consideration.
Sincerely,
Maria "Mia" Hanna, Homeowner
Pasadena, CA.91104
08/17/2026
Item 11
McMillan, Acquanette (Netta)
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Blossom Wright
Monday, August 17, 2026 3:41 PM
PublicComment-AutoResponse
Hampton, Tyron
Letter in Support of Agenda Item 11 - Expanding Fee Waivers to Standing Homes Some people who received this message don't often get email fromearn why this is important [ ,l ] CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button (PAB). For more information about the PAB view article "KB0011474" on the DolT portal.
I hope to attend the meeting tonight and speak however being displaced for 19 months and counting has left me barely able to speak about this subject without crying. It is incredibly traumatic to be dealing with this nightmare for such a prolonged time with little progress or movement towards recovery when you are failed by your insurance company.
I have attended two of the EdTech meetings where this item was discussed to voice my support and strongly believe we need to recognize the extreme Loss and financial hardship that Standing Home Survivors are facing.
My home is directly downwind of the Eaton Fire burn zone and in the direct smoke path from the fire and remains uninhabitable from lead, asbestos and heavy metal contamination. I also have roof and structure damage from the wind that night and my insurance company has done nothing to help me. They continue to delay, deny and ignore me causing extreme financial hardship, stress and anxiety and flagrantly violating California Claims Handling regulations.
And there is no end in sight. They have not paid my living expenses to live elsewhere while my home is uninhabitable; they have not even paid to fix the roof which is still tarped let alone reimburse me the cost of having it tarped multiple times now.
I still do not understand why they City of Pasadena completely overlooked the tremendous damage to standing homes in their red and yellow tags and has no accounting of or record of the number of homes impacted. I can only attribute it to the Eaton Fire being a first of its kind Wildland Urban Interface Fire and people not realizing at first how bad the damage could be from 'smoke'. I appreciate the Building Departments work in support of including standing homes in the permit fee waiver program and I feel their report was comprehensive and a fair account.
I know that I am not alone in still being displaced and by including standing homes in this fee waiver it is at least the start of an acknowledgement of the tremendous financial Loss, grief and hardship that is being experienced in our community. Every cent in permit fee waivers will be put back into the local economy many times over. It is a gesture of inclusion and acknowledgment of loss that would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely
Aurore Blossom Wright
08/17/2026
Item 11
McMillan, Acquanette (Netta)
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Debbie McMahon
Monday, August 17, 2026 4:49 PM
PublicComment-AutoResponse
Permits for Standing Homes
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Dear City Council,
My house in Altadena survived only because my husband stayed all night fighting the fire himself. Sadly, the damage from contamination heavily infiltrated our property and cannot simply be "cleaned." The cost to repair our standing home is hundreds of thousands of dollars more than it would have been had we let the house burn down, because the cost to bring it to the studs while following proper OSHA protocol to lawfully dispose of contaminated materials.
Contamination infiltrated the walls, attic, floors, crawl space, and even inside a closed dryer drum. Our electrical components are corroded. In order to remove contaminated building materials, we have to bring the house down to the studs, address our 1925 construction, and follow required protocols for the removal and disposal of hazardous materials.
Testing identified extensive contamination, including metals and gases at hazardous levels, infiltrating our attic, wall cavities, cracks between floorboards, and absorbed into the building materials. ALL contaminants identified were at hazardous Levels: arsenic, asbestos, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, Lithium, mercury, chloride anions, formaldehyde, hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen cyanide. Even our electrical system is compromised by corrosion from the chloride anions - the acidity of the smoke. Some of it has already failed.
Those whose houses burned face a different financial reality, as the fire consumed the building materials and the Army Corps of Engineers removed the debris. Those of us with severely damaged standing homes must pay to remove contaminated materials piece by piece. Additionally, unlike many whose homes burned down, several of us are fighting with our insurers over coverage and are now in litigation simply to have our policy contracts honored.
The permits should be extended to those of us whose homes survived but were also terribly damaged by the fire. We should not lose access to fire-recovery permits simply because our homes remained standing.
Thankyou,
Debbie McMahon
08/17/2026
Item 11