Is SoCal Edison’s “Fast Pay” Program Truly Fast and Fair?

In Part Two of this conversation, Tavis Smiley, Chief Visionary Officer and flagship host of KBLA Talk 1580, and KBLA host James Farr lead an Altadena Town Hall on Thursday, November 6, 2025, where fire survivors are still left without answers to critical questions about SCE’s settlement fund.

Tavis and James are joined by fire victims, community leaders, and advocates, including panelists Martin Gordon, Chair of the Pasadena Community Coalition; Jacque Robinson-Bailey, Former Pasadena Vice Mayor; Toni Bailey-Raines, Community Organizer and host of Altadena Talks; and Dr. William Syms, Vice President of Student Services at West LA College.

If you or someone you know was affected by the Altadena/Eaton Canyon Fire and still needs answers, make your voice heard — contact Pedro Pizarro, President & CEO of Edison International, at [email protected] or call 626.302.2255 (press #1).

Your Voice. Your Questions. Your Community.

s SoCal Edison’s “Fast Pay” Program Truly Fast and Fair?

In part one in this town hall conversation, KBLA Talk 1580’s Chief Visionary Officer and flagship host, Tavis Smiley, along with KBLA host James Farr, lead an important discussion in Altadena on Thursday, November 6, 2025, where fire survivors are still left without answers to critical questions about SCE’s settlement fund.

Tavis and James are joined by fire victims, community leaders, and advocates, including panelists Dr. Echelle Williams, MFL, Brandon Lamar (President, Pasadena NAACP), and Zaire Calvin, High School Football Coach.

If you or someone you know was affected by the Altadena/Eaton Canyon Fire and still needs answers, make your voice heard. Contact Pedro Pizarro, President & CEO of Edison International, at [email protected] or call 626.302.2255 (press #1).

Your Voice. Your Questions. Your Community.

In this episode of 'Conversation Live: Altadena Rising" with James Farr — “Somebody Didn’t Do Their Damn Job.”

Nine months since the Eaton Canyon Fire… and now this so-called “After Action Report” lands. Polished up, typed out — but it doesn’t tell us a thing we didn’t already know. Folks in Altadena lived this. We smelled the smoke. We heard the sirens. We watched the hills burn while the power lines stayed hot.

So let’s be real. Somebody failed.
Was it the technology… or the people who were supposed to make the call?

This week, I’m joined by Dr. Eshele Williams, L.M.F.T., and Brian Baccus of Altadena Talks. Both survivors. Both are clear on one thing — somebody didn’t do their damn job.
And what comes next? Anybody’s guess.

On this podcast episode of "Conversation Live: Altadena Rising" with James Farr — Freddy Sayegh. Fire survivor. Lost seven properties. Now leading Alta Design Works to help neighbors rebuild. Homes. Hope. Community.

Victoria Williams joins next. Founder of the Black Education Expo, connecting students, parents, and educators with tools and support for fire survivors. Books. Career panels. Mental health resources.

Two voices. One question: who will answer the call — bringing relief, resources, real aid to Altadena?

On this podcast, "Conversation Live: Altadena Rising" with James Farr, Andre Barnwell joins the conversation. A writer, producer, director, and fire survivor still displaced from his home, Barnwell is shaping a TV drama rooted in Altadena. Youth voices at the center. Local crews behind the camera. Production dollars are flowing back into the foothills.

But Hollywood already moved. Kenya Barris, Mike Epps, BET Studios, and CBS green-lit a sitcom with the Altadena Eaton Canyon Fire as a backdrop. Too soon? Too far removed? The Recovery Will Not Be Televised — Or Should It?

On this podcast episode of "Conversation Live: Altadena Rising" with James Farr. Congresswoman Judy Chu will face the burning question: Will survivors ever see real relief, or will the system tax, delay, and deny them? She sits on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, shaping aid, safety nets, and recovery dollars. Eight months after the Eaton Fire, Altadena still waits for answers.

And then, the money trail. The LA Fire Aid concert raised $100 million for survivors. A number that promised hope. But how was it spent? Which nonprofits got it? Why are families still struggling? Relief or waste — the report tells a story, and the community is demanding answers. 

On this podcast episode of "Conversation Live: Altadena Rising" with James Farr—Dr. Cornel West. A Black prophetic voice. Scholar. Truth-teller. Together, we mark Altadena as sacred Black ground. Memory stands a weapon against erasure. Fire scarred it. Displacement tested it. Still, the people rise.

We confront disaster capitalism. Carry Sankofa lessons forward. Ask tomorrow’s questions today. If Wakanda were real, Altadena would be one of its proud tribes—rooted, unshakable, rising.

Coming up on this podcast episode of "Conversation Live: Altadena Rising" with James Farr, seven months. Eleven days. After the Eaton Canyon Fire, Jarvis Emerson broke ground for his Black Altadena family’s home. A home lost to flames. Shovels in hand. Soil that once burned. He begins to rebuild. We were there. Witnessed the prayers.—the joy. The hope taking shape.

In this conversation, we take you inside the groundbreaking ceremony—praises going up, blessings coming down. Recovery isn’t just bricks. It’s reunion. Roots. Restoring what fire tried to take. Jarvis shares the breaking point,  the fight, the faith, and the prayers that bring his family home. For the Emerson family, their land in Altadena is not for sale.

On the podcast episode of "Conversation Live: Altadena Rising" with James Farr, Dr. Brent Musson joins us to ask the question Black Altadena is still living with thirty-two weeks after the fire: Generational Wealth Re?Imagined. Musson, an Altadena native, housing policy expert, award-winning researcher, former Town Council member, and TEDx Altadena organizer, brings insight shaped by expertise and lived experience: Asset-rich, cash-poor families. FEMA funds are still missing. Insurance is falling short. Rebuilding costs are stacking up. “…some may have to sell their land — not by choice, but by the force of limited options.

Dr. Musson breaks down practical, complex, and maybe controversial solutions as we explore whether this moment can flip the script on wealth, legacy, and community. Together, we confront what rebuilding really looks like and whether generational wealth in Altadena can survive — or be truly re?imagined.

On this episode of "Conversation Live: Altadena Rising" with James Farr, seven months after the Eaton Canyon fire, who’s helping Altadena — and who’s just putting on a show? Pasadena NAACP President Brandon Lamar joins us to break it down. Neighbors are feeding and housing families with dignity, building systems that work.

Even in success, there are lessons. From Hollywood and political candidates showing up with groceries — charity or political theater? — to fire survivors cast as extras in a campaign commercial, to the slow grind of recovery, Brandon and I explore what sustains a community, what resilience looks like, and what keeps hope alive when the system fails.