Participants in the state’s deliberative democracy program, Engaged California, identified their top priorities for rebuilding their communities.
What you need to know: The State’s pilot digital democracy conversation has wrapped, allowing Angelenos over a 6-month period to share their needs for recovery and prioritize efforts to rebuild following the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires.
SACRAMENTO, California – Survivors of the LA wildfires have completed the State’s first-in-the-nation deliberative democracy engagement, resulting in an action plan they helped create. Improved infrastructure, communications and financial support are some of the most important elements they shared as part of Engaged California.
Government works better when we build it together. The feedback received from the Engaged California process is reflective of residents’ experiences and will inform where leadership must step up to fill in the gaps. From Californians perspectives, concerns, and ideas shared, government officials will lay the groundwork toward taking concrete actions. Together, we will recover, reimagine, and rebuild Los Angeles.
—Governor Gavin Newsom
The plan was developed through online deliberation sessions over a 6-month period, reflecting priorities directly from those who were affected by the fires. The priorities they set – focusing on immediate community support and long-term infrastructure improvements – will be used to inform and guide state and local officials in rebuilding and recovery.
All of us in government work for the people of California. For the system to work, we need input from those we serve. This first pilot for the LA fires is an example of how government can reach people outside of traditional channels and get feedback from Californians on issues as they arise.
—Government Operations Agency Secretary Nick Maduros
This is democracy in action. Engaged California, as a program, has created a pathway that streamlines the needs of the community and their government. We are able to listen to multiple voices at scale, all at once, then synthesize their input using the latest technology. Now that survivors have shared their priorities, state and local governments will use their responses as a road map to guide recovery efforts in these communities.
—California Office of Data and Innovation Director Jeffery Marino
People affected by the fires were invited to opt-in to the platform where they discussed and prioritized their top five community needs following the January wildfires that devastated Southern California.
Residents from the different fire zones participated together in the platform, and the results showed remarkable consistency in their top priorities, demonstrating community-wide agreement despite geographic separation.
The group of priorities tells a clear story – residents want both immediate support for recovery and long-term investments in fire-resistant infrastructure. Here are the top 5 areas they aligned on:
- Utilities: Burying power lines whenever possible and deploying mitigation strategies to prevent ignition from equipment failures. This comprehensive approach would address one of the major causes of wildfire ignition in California.
- Water: Upgrading water systems to meet modern fire flow requirements and ensuring there are enough fire hydrants in all areas. This would improve the water supply and pressure needed for effective firefighting operations.
- Communications: Promoting communication infrastructure that allows first responders and residents to stay connected even when cell towers or fiber lines fail, such as mesh internet networks that can operate independently during disasters.
- Financial Support: Creating a comprehensive catalog of financial support programs and organizations available to help with rebuilding efforts. This directory would connect fire-affected residents with grants, loans, and aid programs, while also partnering with trusted financial organizations willing to assist with recovery funding.
- Permitting: Establishing teams of dedicated staff at triage centers to quickly guide fire-affected communities through permitting processes. These specialized teams would provide personalized assistance to residents navigating complex rebuilding requirements.
The full report is available.
Town Hall for the Digital Age
From the outset, survivors helped prioritize and set the agenda. They were asked questions that allowed them to rate the importance of 10 disaster-related topics that helped inform program leaders of their recovery needs.
From there, the results were used to create the final action plan. New and returning participants then ranked these options, again using an online platform where they could share ideas and collaborate.
- More than 3,000 affected residents were invited to participate
- They left over 2,500 comments on the platform between March and August
- That resulted in 19 policy actions the community prioritized
- Leading to the action plan with 5 top needs in order to rebuild effectively
- Participants made 1,504 comments and replies
- Casting 3,977 votes across all policy options
Next Steps
One of the main goals of the Engaged California program is that the information received gets shared across all levels of government and with key stakeholders. Government agencies and utilities have already begun responding with concrete actions in each priority area.
The process successfully translated personal experiences from the fires into actionable policy guidance, with ongoing implementation supported by state, county, city, and federal partners. Some of the actions include:
- Infrastructure Improvements
- Undergrounding power lines and telecom cables where appropriate in both the City and County of Los Angeles
- Upgrading water systems for firefighting and assessing fire flows and fire codes
- Strengthening emergency communication networks and organizing steering committees of stakeholders to review alert and warning systems
- Financial and Rebuilding Support
- Securing $3 billion in federal assistance and loans for residents
- Providing over $100 million in mortgage relief through the state’s CalAssist Mortgage Fund
- Mobilizing $50 million from LA County’s Wildfire Relief Fund for families and small businesses
- Waiving or deferring various fees (zoning, permits, plan checks) that can exceed $20,000 per household
The report also includes a streamlined rebuilding process, including one-stop centers in both the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles, that have already helped thousands of residents. Governor Newsom issued numerous executive orders waiving state permitting requirements to streamline rebuilding including:
- Fast-tracking building permit reviews to 30 days or less
- Implementing AI-powered permit pre-checks and expanding pre-approved building designs
- Establishing the fastest post-disaster debris removal in California history (six months)
What They’re Saying
The Engaged California pilot included promising innovations to improve the quality of our democracy including cutting edge artificial intelligence tools that improve governments’ ability to understand the perspectives of their people on a much more granular level.
—Ian Klaus, Founding Director of the California Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The first case use of the Engaged California to address fire recovery in the LA area has proven its value as a platform for the state government to work directly with citizens to effectively address their priority concerns. The engagement enabled citizens’ voices to lead the process, setting, refining and reaching consensus on an actionable agenda for government through deliberation with each other. In response, the Governor’s office has specified precisely what actions are being taken in the short and long-term to meet citizens’ recommendations, including building fire-resilient infrastructure through burying power lines, urgently improving water systems for fire-fighting and strengthening emergency communication networks.
—Nathan Gardels, Editor-in-Chief of Noema Magazine and Co-Founder of the Berggruen Institute’s Think Long Committee for California
Engaged California demonstrates what’s possible when communities are given real voice, genuine choice, and a meaningful stake in shaping recovery efforts. These principles ensure that policy actions reflect the lived experiences and aspirations of those most affected, setting a global model for participatory governance and resilient rebuilding.
—Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s First Digital Minister and Senior Fellow at Project Liberty Institute
Public policy issues that arise out of a crisis or are bound up by special interests, require an infusion of thoughtful public engagement. The use of the Engaged California platform to effectively involve thousands of Californians in the complex work of fire recovery policy in Los Angeles demonstrates that connecting public feedback directly with policy makers is now possible. I look forward to seeing engaged Californians respond to future policy challenges.
—Pete Petersen, Pepperdine University Braun Family Dean’s Chair, School of Public Policy
About Engaged California
The state launched Engaged California in February. Managed by the Office of Data and Innovation, in partnership with the Government Operations Agency, it is the first digital democracy program in the country. Its goal is to facilitate conversations on key topics, building trust between citizens and government leaders, using the latest technology to spark meaningful conversations and solve problems.
Unlike traditional polls or surveys, Engaged California represents an intersection between technology, democracy, and state government. The end goal is to encourage more discussions as a new way to find common ground, a process known internationally as deliberative democracy. The program has already launched its second engagement, on government efficiency, and more are planned. Since the start of his administration in 2019, Governor Newsom has made efficiency, engagement and effectiveness a top priority, implementing new technologies and practices that make government more efficient and responsive to the people it serves. In 2019, the Governor established the Office of Data and Innovation to help advance this important work.