L.A. quietly fires its first chief heat officer

Marta Segura, the city of Los Angeles’ first heating director, was quietly fired from her job last month, the Times has confirmed.

Segura took up his new role in 2022, against a backdrop of a marked increase in climate-induced heat episodes. His appointment by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti came with great fanfare, as it made Los Angeles the third U.S. city to appoint a heating director, after Phoenix and Miami. Segura also served as director of the city’s Office of Climate Emergency Mobilization.

Segura confirmed that the Bass administration let her go last month, as first reported by Substack. Climate colored glasses. She said no reason had been given for the decision, but declined to comment further. Segura received about $222,000 in 2025, according to public payroll data.

Bass administration officials said they were in the process of appointing a new person to the position.

“Extreme heat is one of the most dangerous weather risks in Los Angeles, and it will only get worse without urgent action,” said spokesperson Paige Sterling.

The new heating director will “advance Mayor Bass’ climate action plan,” Sterling said, which includes developing the city’s thermal and resiliency action plan, expanding the tree canopy and implementing citywide cooling strategies. “We thank Marta for her service as the City’s first heating director. »

Some local environmentalists said Segura’s departure would bring even more upheaval to a city already grappling with increasingly serious climate problems.

“Where have all the environmental leaders in this administration gone? asked Mark Gold of the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council. Other recent departures include Janisse Quiñones, who resigned as head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in March; and Barbara Romero, who resigned as head of the city’s Bureau of Sanitation in October amid rumors that she had been forced out. Both were advocates for clean energy and sustainability goals.

The city’s Office of Sustainability, which led implementation of Garcetti’s ambitious Green New Deal, was also remodeled early in Bass’s tenure, with many of its responsibilities moving to the Board of Public Works and the Office of Climate Emergency Mobilization. Last year, the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office itself was moved from Public Works to the city’s Emergency Management Department.

But while Bass has reaffirmed and, in some areas, advanced Los Angeles’ climate goals — such as moving to 100% renewable energy by 2035 — climate has often been less of a priority than homelessness and public safety. Last year, the mayor proposed eliminating the Office of Climate Emergency Mobilization due to a billion-dollar budget shortfall, a move that was ultimately rejected by the Los Angeles City Council.

With Segura’s departure, the office’s six former employees are now down to one employee, assistant heating director Gordon Haines.

Still, some City Council members have been able to make progress on heat-related issues independent of office. Last fall, council members Eunisses Hernandez, Adrin Nazarian and Bob Blumenfield introduced a motion to set indoor heating standards for city tenants, mirroring an order from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The motion is currently moving forward in the drafting process.

In April, Bass released a new climate action plan for the city that largely replaces the Green New Deal and calls for doubling local solar power by 2030, reducing the use of fossil fuels in buildings and city buses, and addressing heat risk, among other things.

Department of Emergency Management spokesman Joseph Riser said he was unable to comment on personnel matters, but the heating chief position “remains a priority for us as we work to continue to ensure issues related to climate resilience are addressed in our risk planning efforts.”

Segura was appointed to the position as the city faced cascading climate risks, including severe drought and extreme heat waves. A record heat wave in September 2022 killed hundreds of people across the state and nearly knocked out the power grid.

Segura’s appointment also follows a Times investigation into the deadly toll of extreme heat, which found that California chronically undercounts heat deaths and that heat impacts disproportionately affect Los Angeles’ poorest neighborhoods.

Bass’ office said the new heating director will be announced this month.