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() The California mother who emotionally confronted California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday has spoken exclusively to about the viral moment.
Rachel Darvish, a mother from Pacific Palisades, is currently living in a hotel room with her daughter. Despite her home still standing, she says she like many of her neighbors is presently homeless.
Darvish begged Newsom to provide her with insight into how he would deal with the devastation caused by wildfires.
“I think he really was saying, ‘We weren’t prepared. We screwed up. I’m trying to figure out who else to blame,'” Darvish told .
“I mean, the first thing he did was he told me that the fire hydrants weren’t his fault. The first thing he told everyone was the fire department cut the fire lines, and it was their fault. It’s a local responsibility.”
She added, “When you are the governor of California and the city of Los Angeles is under your jurisdiction, and the city of Pacific Palisades as part of your jurisdiction, it doesn’t matter who cut the line. It’s your name on that cut.”
According to the Los Angeles controller, last year, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass set aside $1.3 billion for the homeless situation, but $513 million of that budget was not spent.
By contrast, she reduced the budget for the Los Angeles Fire Department by $17.6 million, from $837 million to $819 million, before a four-year, $203 million deal with the union was approved in November.
In a letter to Bass last month, LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley wrote that budgetary reductions “severely limited the Department’s capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires.”
Speaking to that and Bass’ prioritization of the homeless, Darvish said, “There is no town to go home to. With a home standing, I have nowhere to go. I cannot live there, and no one, no one with a house, can. It’s just not possible.
“So now I’m homeless. I am homeless like everyone that Karen Bass promised that she was going to help years ago in 2022. I am one of those people now.
“I’m talking to people right now with kids, with dogs with one shirt, and they’re displaced. They are displaced. So we have two big problems. We have displacement, and we have our children to worry about.”