TODAY DTSC is patting itself on the back for taking LA County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn to visit active cleanup happening at Exide impacted homes. DTSC is proud of themselves for “surprising” the contractors by showing up “unannounced”, 2 hours before Supervisors Solis and Hahn, and visiting homes not on the “Pony Show” schedule. These visits are supposed to prove to elected officials, and maybe to DTSC themselves if they are delusional enough, that the cleanup process is happening the right way.

The tragically funny plot twist is that YESTERDAY the contractors were scrambling to reach all the cleanup workers, including flying Executives into Los Angeles, to make sure the “Pony Show” goes off as planned. In a text message shared with us, workers are instructed to follow protocols just for a day, just for the “Pony Show”:

After the “Pony Show” today, we heard from cleanup workers that following protocols just for a day really highlights for them how wrong the cleanup has been going. There is no way they can follow the proper protocols every day and meet the timeline demands placed on them by their bosses. The quicker the cleanup at a home happens, accomplished by cutting corners and not following proper cleanup protocols, the higher the profits for the contractors. This is why the contractors operate by ridiculing, reassigning and in some cases firing cleanup workers who have raised issues when cleanup protocols are not followed. At this point, the toxic work culture is so established that following the cleanup protocols for one day, for the “Pony Show”, actually feels bizarre.

There is zero indication that the current contractors getting paid millions of dollars to cleanup our communities are capable of not being bad actors. They are taking advantage of us! The show must not go on!!! And we understand the amount of pressure that cleanup workers are under by their contractor bosses, pressure to cut corners and not follow proper cleanup protocols, pressure to show up to a DTSC public meeting to fight for the contractors under the guise of fighting for their jobs. Just know we have seen contractors come and go, but the movement, the cleanup, and the jobs we fought for are here to stay until all Exide impacted homes are properly cleaned up.

So for today’s “Pony Show,” and the encore performance that will be happening at the DTSC public meeting tonight, we gotta say 0/10 WOULD NOT RECOMMEND!!!