Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday said he would not issue a state of emergency proclamation for the Tustin Hangar fire, saying the emergency has passed and that reimbursement is a federal responsibility.
City and county officials have asked the governor to issue one, and in turn request President Joe Biden to issue a presidential declaration of emergency, saying it would allow agencies to give money to the city and residents to get reimbursed for costs associated with the fire.
“The emergency’s passed, so the emergency (declaration) won’t have any effectiveness in terms of reimbursement,” Newsom said Thursday, while in Orange County for a housing event in Costa Mesa. “Disaster declaration has to reach a certain threshold. A major disaster (declaration), actually has a numeric legal threshold of about $73 million. As it relates to this specific issue, it doesn’t reach those thresholds.”
Mayor Austin Lumbard was disappointed by the governor’s comments, saying the city has waited for months for a response. Lumbard said Thursday the city has done its due diligence on understanding state law and this is the first time they are hearing about a monetary threshold.
“It’s troubling that the governor of our state doesn’t realize that he could include in his declaration of an emergency a recommendation to the federal government to declare an emergency, which will give our residents access to FEMA individual assistance,” Lumbard said. “Just yesterday, news crews were in our neighborhoods interviewing residents who are out of pocket thousands of dollars without any way of accessing these FEMA funds for reimbursement. His declaration would certainly help get us closer to that needed relief.”
“Where has the governor been with his emergency declaration since he apparently believed we did indeed have an emergency? We have been asking since day one on Nov.7,” Lumbard added. “Based on the governor’s own comments, I’m not sure why he hasn’t…
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