"In the months after the Palisades fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation raked in millions of dollars in charitable donations to pay for training and equipment for firefighters, as LAFD leaders publicly complained about not having enough money to keep the city safe. But some of the funds were quietly spent on something that had little to do with firefighting: a celebrity public relations firm to help LAFD leaders shape their messaging after a disaster in which their missteps figured prominently, The Times has learned."
""The LAFD Foundation provided communications support by hiring the Lede Company as part of its mission to provide resources to the LAFD," Liz Lin, president of the foundation, said in an email. "The Foundation was not involved in the services provided by the Lede Company. Specific details regarding the Department's use of the Lede Company should be addressed by the LAFD.""
The Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation collected millions in charitable donations intended for firefighter training and equipment but paid a celebrity public relations firm, the Lede Company, to provide communications support. Neither the department nor the foundation disclosed payment amounts or detailed services, and a Lede representative declined to comment. Foundation president Liz Lin said the foundation hired the firm to provide communications support and that the foundation was not involved in department use. The department faces scrutiny for altering its after-action report to downplay preparedness and response failures after the fire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
Read at Los Angeles Times
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]