L.A. Wildfire Czar's $500K Payday Sparks Outrage

The wildfire czar's hefty payout did not sit well with the citizens of California.
After The Los Angeles Times reported recovery leader Steve Soboroff would get paid $500,000 over three months for working to help get the city back on its feet, residents were outraged, leaving Mayor Karen Bass to backtrack on his compensation.
Join us to hear how the left-leaning politician reassured citizens Soboroff would not be collecting a check…
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While the czar's money was coming from charity organizations and not the city, Bass made it clear Soboroff would be offering his services free of charge.
"Steve is always there for L.A. I spoke to him today and asked him to modify his agreement and work for free. He said yes," she explained on Saturday, February 8. "We agree that we don't need anything distracting from the recovery work we're doing."

Randy Johnson — a real estate executive helping Soboroff in his efforts — was also supposed to be compensated for $250,000. However, he will also work without pay. The charities who offered to front the salaries of the two men were not named.
City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez said it was "infuriating" that the anonymous entities would pay to save their community when people are still without homes.

"He's getting paid $500,000 for three months of work?" Donald Trump's pick for envoy for special missions Ric Grenell wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "And they call this a charity. Gross. Offensive."

"I'm getting paid $0 – as are many people. It's a good thing there will be strings on the Federal money for California," he added.
Pacific Palisades resident Steve Danton — whose home was destroyed in the natural disaster — told the outlet he felt Soboroff's original compensation is a "money grab" and that he feels there was a "leadership crisis" in the city.

Despite agreeing to work without pay, Soboroff defended the amount he would receive before citizens spoke out.
"I've been doing this for 35 years for free on some of the biggest civic projects for the city of Los Angeles. But nobody ever asked me to drop everything. This time they did," Soboroff explained. "And I said OK, under the condition that my pay not be taken out of city money, or from any wildfire survivors who would otherwise benefit from that money."

"At the end of the day, I'm doing the stuff that all these other people are just studying," he noted. "I'm implementing to help people reach their goals of getting back in their houses and getting their jobs back."
Soboroff claimed he was taking questions from "thousands of residents" as they continue to put their community back together.