Steve Soboroff, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ wildfire recovery czar, went public with his frustrations about doing the job for free, telling an audience he was “lied to” — and had the texts and emails to back it up.
The remarks, made to an alumni group at Harvard-Westlake School last week, came as Soboroff attempted to address what he called “the elephant in the room”: the city’s initial plan to pay him $500,000 over 90 days, and his subsequent decision to work without pay after an outcry over the size of his compensation.
Soboroff, a real estate developer and civic leader who was selected by the mayor to do the work in mid-January, told reporters early on that his salary would be covered by philanthropy. Bass, without disclosing the amount, said the same thing weeks later.
On Thursday at Harvard-Westlake, Soboroff said he found himself at a point where he had “no money” and “no contract,” according to a recording of his remarks.
“So then I found out that they really didn’t have the money,” he said. “And then I found out I really did have the [personal] bills.
“And so there was one of two things to do: Go public and quit, and say I was lied to — here’s my emails, here’s my texts, here’s all this s—,” he told the group. “Or tell them I’ll do it for free, and hope that it comes around later on.”
By Monday, Soboroff changed course, telling The Times he did not think that the mayor had lied or intentionally misled him.
“That was not what I feel and not what I meant,” he said in an interview.
Asked about Soboroff’s comments at Harvard-Westlake, Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl said the mayor’s office “refers you to his refutation.”
Still, the recording provided fresh evidence of the turmoil that has surrounded the mayor since the outbreak of the Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes in Pacific Palisades and surrounding communities.
The mayor has had tense interactions in recent weeks with Lindsey Horvath, who represents the Palisades on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. On Friday, the mayor ousted Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley.
Facing criticism over the emergency response and her absence from the city when the fire broke out, Bass named Soboroff as her recovery czar Jan. 17. But she and Soboroff did not always agree, or even fully communicate, on the city’s strategy for reopening and rebuilding.
Last month, Bass signaled that she had scaled back Soboroff’s duties, limiting them to the rebuilding of a portion of the Palisades.
Soboroff disputed that his work had been downsized. Meanwhile, his relationship with the mayor frayed further over his salary — a topic he aired publicly for the first time during the alumni forum.
On Feb. 7, Bass’ team confirmed that Soboroff would be paid $500,000 for 90 days of work — with all the funds coming from philanthropy. After facing a backlash over the amount, the mayor announced the next day that Soboroff had agreed to work for free.
At the time, Bass said Soboroff is “always there for L.A.”
“I spoke to him today and asked him to modify his agreement and work for free. He said yes,” she said.
The Harvard-Westlake event, titled “A Night With Steve Soboroff: Recovery From the LA Fires,” was held at the private school’s Holmby Hills campus and was put on by the HW Business and Entrepreneurship Alumni Network.
During the event, Soboroff underscored that he had turned down other work to take the job and had spent much of his career doing civic work pro bono.
“I get called for a lot of civic stuff over the years, for 35 years, and never charged anybody anything. You try spending 35 years out of the middle of your life not charging anybody for anything, and sending five kids to Harvard-Westlake,” Soboroff said to laughter in the the room.
The salary was “a lot of money,” but also what he made at his three prior jobs, he said.
Soboroff has repeatedly pointed out that he gave up lucrative consulting work to take on the role of recovery czar. In an interview with The Times on Saturday, he said he had always assumed that he would be paid for his work.
“If I was a billionaire or a hundred-millionaire or a 20-millionaire or a whatever, I probably would have done this for free from the beginning. But I wasn’t, I’m not and I didn’t,” Soboroff said. “And I had to give things up that were going to be helpful to me.”
Also at issue is how Soboroff’s salary figure came about. Asked during a news conference on Feb. 11 whether the salary was negotiated, Bass said: “Yes, there was a negotiation.” But in his interview with The Times, Soboroff said the mayor never pushed back on the $500,000 figure.
