By Jason Islas

California faces a major gap between immediate disaster relief and long-term recovery. While mutual aid, California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES), and the federal government have provided aid during and immediately after a disaster, communities are often left to navigate complex, years-long rebuilding processes with limited support.

This is as true for small rural communities as it is for the state’s major urban areas. However, there are models for state lawmakers to consider that can give communities of all sizes the opportunity to establish recovery agencies ahead of disasters.

Different Disasters, Parallel Challenges

These issues were discussed at a panel organized by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, in partnership with the Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the Environment and the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge, for California state legislative staff at the UC Student and Policy Center in Sacramento on March 5, 2026. The panel featured the following experts:

• Megan Mullin, faculty director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation (moderator)
• Julia Stein, deputy director of the UCLA Emmett Institute
• Alex Carrillo, director of communications and public policy specialist at the UC Merced Community and Labor Center
• Sol Rivas, executive director of Valley Onward
• Cecilia Estolano, CEO and founder of Estolano Advisors

The panel discussion looked at two recent disasters: the 2023 Merced County floods, which devastated the rural community of Planada, and the 2025 LA County fires, which levelled the Pacific Palisades and Altadena communities, and featured experts from each area who have participated in recovery efforts.

Mullin and Stein helped lead UCLA’s research effort supporting the post-fire Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and a Fire-Safe Recovery. This panel builds on the work started in that effort. Estolano served on the Commission. She also previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the city of Los Angeles. Rivas and Carrillo have been involved in the recovery efforts for Planada after the floods.

The Critical Need for Centralized Points of Accountability

The panelists identified a range of problems in coordinating and mobilizing local recovery efforts. Los Angeles is famously decentralized in its political powers, leading to a lack of a coordinated recovery plan. In rural Merced County, even when state funding was secured, the county was not equipped to administer it.

Without a centralized hub responsible for long-term recovery and rebuilding, there is no single agency to marshal and distribute resources, navigate interagency permits (water, infrastructure), or provide a clear place for residents to go for help. Existing local governments typically do not have the technical expertise, interjurisdictional relationships, and clearly demarcated authority needed to meet the needs of immediate disaster relief while staging long-term recovery efforts at the same time.

Establishing Recovery Frameworks Before the Disaster

Panelists also identified the fact that current California law makes it difficult for local governments to quickly stand up a recovery governance structure that would have land use and financial powers to lead a cohesive rebuilding strategy.

Establishing such an agency after a disaster can be particularly challenging and necessarily slows down recovery efforts, especially in comparison to a scenario in which an agency is in place pre-disaster, which would allow recovery work to begin immediately.

California lawmakers are currently considering a measure, AB 2385, authored by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, that would allow communities to set up recovery agencies before disasters strike so they can spring into action when needed.

Universities as Connectors in Disaster Response

In Planada, which is largely a community of farmworkers, 83% of households suffered economic losses from a flood in early 2023. These losses came from both property damage and job loss or missed work, and a large portion of residents were ineligible for federal disaster aid or unemployment benefits.

The UC Merced Community and Labor Center was able to mobilize and—working with community group partners that could serve as trusted messengers—to assess the scope and nature of need, which led the state to provide $20 million in recovery aid. This was possible due to UC Merced’s existing relationships with lawmakers and local officials, the community, and non-profit and mutual aid organizations.

After the Los Angeles fires, UCLA also played a role in bringing research and community connections to support recovery, through the creation of disaster recovery centers, the launch of numerous community- and policy-engaged rapid research projects, and partnership with the Blue Ribbon Commission.

Long-Term Rebuilding vs. Rapid Response

There is a dangerous tendency to prioritize the speed of rebuilding over long-term strategy. True recovery can take 6-to-8 years or more, yet response and recovery planning typically only covers 2-to-3 years post-disaster. Three years after the Planada floods and more than two years after the award of state funds, more than half the funds remain unexpended, and many households are still struggling with mold issues and displacement.

One year after the Los Angeles fires, the region’s city and county governments are still debating how to govern and finance rebuilding. In Altadena, which was more socio-economically diverse than the Pacific Palisades, 44% of properties sold so far have been purchased by limited liability corporations (LLCs). This trend is exacerbating gentrification pressures and signaling the emergence of wealth gaps in household recovery. Rebuilding often occurs piecemeal, neglecting community-wide resilience planning and creating inefficiencies that add to the cost of recovery.

Learning to Inform Future Action

The March 5 discussion demonstrates the critical role universities can play in providing lawmakers with action-oriented and community-informed research that can inform policy. The 2023 Merced County floods and the 2025 LA County fires illustrate the importance of preparing the governance structures ahead of disaster to ensure that communities, regardless of their size and demographics, are able to recover quickly, equitably, and effectively.

In both these cases, UC Merced and UCLA, respectively, are able to bring experience and expertise that can help shape the contours of governance frameworks. The next steps remain in the hands of lawmakers.