A Senate committee heard testimony recently from Palisades fire victims on Los Angeles’s catastrophic failure to prepare for and respond to the most destructive wildfire in the city’s history. L.A. still does not have a comprehensive infrastructure damage assessment or a plan to pay for repairs and fire resiliency improvements. Although Gov. Gavin  Newsom has the authority to assume control over the Palisades infrastructure rebuild, there is no sign of the “California Marshall Plan” that he promised months ago.

As one of the thousands of displaced Palisades fire victims, here’s the message I’d like the senators to take back to Washington: Don’t write L.A. a blank check. Before another dollar is appropriated, Congress should insist on four conditions to ensure that federal funding will actually be used to rebuild my community, on-budget and on-time.

First, Newsom has the power to create an independent Pacific Palisades Reconstruction Authority (PPRA), much as New York Gov. George Pataki created the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) to oversee the rebuild at Ground Zero. Knowing that ceding control over the reconstruction of the World Trade Center would devolve into a political negotiation, Pataki bypassed the state Legislature and the City Council and appointed a LMDC board comprised of business leaders, not state or local elected officials beholden to interest groups. Newsom can do for the Palisades what Pataki did for Manhattan, but only if he chooses to act.

Second, Newsom must delegate to the PPRA certain of his emergency powers to oversee reconstruction logistics within the Palisades, one of the most topographically challenging construction sites in Southern California. The Authority must be given the power to accelerate the pace of rebuilding, including by cutting through burdensome permitting requirements or by providing building contractors a safe harbor from some of California’s most punitive wage and hour regulations.

Third, while the PPRA must be independent from City Hall, its board must be accountable to residents and to the federal government. There has to be strings attached to each tranche of federal funding so it will remain focused on the economic and infrastructure needs of Palisades residents and business owners. It also means President Donald Trump and Newsom have to reach agreement on the authority’s board of directors, much as Pataki and Mayor Rudy Giuliani did when the LMDC was created.

Fourth, while Palisadians should not be asked to repair the damage to their streets, water systems or utilities after being so grievously let down by their elected and public safety officials, they should be willing to co-invest alongside the federal government as the long-term beneficiaries of fire resiliency improvements, such as undergrounding utilities, including through bonds backstopped by tax increment financing, special property tax assessments, and federal loans and loan guarantees.

These are the sort of conditions Trump insisted upon when he visited the Palisades months ago. They give  Newsom the opportunity to demonstrate that he is capable of bypassing an immovable blue state bureaucracy to address a once-in-a- generation disaster. It answers community concerns that the city cannot be trusted with this recovery. It requires accountability over outcomes, including by giving the Trump administration a say on who sits on the PPRA board. It enables private sector initiative and market-based solutions to rebuild the Palisades on “Trump Time,” which is how U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy recently described the administration’s ambitious timeline for rebuilding New York Penn Station.

It is also what our community wants. According to a survey conducted this fall by NORC on behalf of PPCC, almost 63% of residents are somewhat to extremely confident in the ability of a community-based rebuilding authority with an elected board of directors to lead a coordinated and effective rebuilding effort. Conversely, about 75% of residents are not very or not at all confident in the ability of state, county or city government to lead this effort.

As far as we know, neither Mayor Karen Bass nor Newsom has asked the Builder-in-Chief how he would resurrect the Palisades. So, Mr. President, we’re asking. Bring us your impatience with the status quo and your willingness to set aside the business-as-usual federal disaster relief playbook, so we can make good on your promise after you saw the Palisades fire devastation: “We’re going to get it fixed — though we’ll get it permanently fixed so it can’t happen again.”

In less than 1,000 days, LA will host the 2028 Summer Olympic Games with over 10,000 athletes and 5 million visitors. The Palisades can remain L.A.’s most visited disaster tourist destination or it can showcase a record-time, community-driven resurrection.

David A. Schwarz is the chairman of the Rebuild Committee of the Pacific Palisades Community Council. The views expressed are his own.