(DC Pundit) – Governor Gavin Newsom has taken yet another swing at property rights in California, this time under the smoke screen of wildfire recovery. Former Acting Director of National Intelligence and U.S. Special Envoy Ric Grenell isn’t having it, and neither are the residents of Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
Grenell accused Newsom of flat-out lying about his plans for the fire-scorched areas of Los Angeles. While residents are still reeling from the January fires that devastated parts of these iconic neighborhoods, Newsom apparently saw an opportunity, not to help them rebuild their homes, but to push through low-income housing developments.
“They are changing the character of the Palisades and Malibu to fit their woke agenda. They don’t care what residents want,” Grenell posted on X.
. @GavinNewsom lied.
He said he wouldn’t grab the land where homes burned down in the Palisades to build low-income housing facilities – but he and Karen Bass just did.
They are changing the character of the Palisades and Malibu to fit their woke agenda. They don’t care what…
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) July 17, 2025
Translation: Newsom is more concerned about checking boxes on his progressive wish list than he is about respecting the people who live in the communities he’s targeting. The governor’s recent move to funnel $101 million to developers for building low-income housing in these fire-damaged zones has ignited a political firestorm.
Adding insult to injury, this announcement came on the heels of Newsom signing legislation that rolled back environmental protections which had previously halted high-density housing construction in certain urban areas, also known as “urban infill.” Suddenly, land that was once protected for environmental or residential reasons is now fair game for the governor’s social engineering experiments. How convenient?
Wait, it gets better. The California State Senate passed a bill to create a local authority empowered to use property tax dollars to buy up burned-out lots and turn them into low-income housing projects. That’s not exactly the type of “rebuilding” local residents had in mind when they were sifting through the ashes of their homes.
And while Newsom insists it’s all about equitable recovery and increasing housing supply, locals are calling it exactly what it is: a shameless land grab.
The backlash was swift enough to cause State Sen. Ben Allen (D–Santa Monica) to slam the brakes on his own bill tied to the initiative. Allen withdrew the measure before it could even be debated in the State Assembly, admitting it “needed more time for public consultation.”
That’s political speak for “we got caught trying to sneak something past the people.”
This isn’t just about Malibu or the Palisades — it’s about a growing pattern of California Democrats using crises to reshape communities in the image of their political agendas. What used to be disaster recovery is now just another opportunity to bulldoze local voices and replace them with bureaucratic mandates.
If you lost your home in the fires and were hoping to rebuild, good luck doing that before Sacramento finds a way to label your lot a “social justice opportunity zone.”
Newsom has perfected the art of pretending to help while quietly pushing policies that benefit his political base and donor class. The victims of the fire? They’re just collateral damage in California’s grand “equity” experiment.
California used to be the land of opportunity. Now, it is the land of government overreach dressed up in the language of compassion.
It’s no wonder people are leaving in droves.
Copyright 2025. DCPundit.com | Featured image credit: Picryl/Public Domain
