It was evident at a Paradise town council meeting Tuesday that just about everyone wants to get back to normal, but complexity and uncertainty are fraying nerves.
The reverence given to elected leaders immediately after the fire now competes with under-breath heckling, and isolated demands for a recall election. One of the most vocal points of contention was over the prohibition against living in mobile homes unless a property is more than two-thirds of an acre. Officials said they would reconsider that rule.
Another was local contractors and workers feeling shut out of lucrative recovery work.
Confusion and anger are also complicating debris removal plans, with suspicion growing over the role of subcontractors. Some property owners are reluctant to sign so-called right of entry forms. Without the signatures, the state will NOT remove debris, and homeowners will have to pay for the same services privately... an expensive proposition.