Karen Bass keeps her foot to the ground

With a steady and successful term as mayor focusing on solving key issues for residents of Los Angeles, the beginning of 2025 brought upon unforeseen challenges for Karen Bass, caused by the Los Angeles wildfires, most notably the Palisades Fire.

Yet, she did not back down from the challenges such as the public dogpiling from LA city officials like former LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley, indirect and direct comments from Elon Musk and Rick Caruso questioning her competency — which some feel contributes to the current state of Mayor Karen Bass’ standing in the eyes of some Angelenos who — despite her notable progress with finding solutions for Angelenos after the wildfires.

Common misconceptions and misinformation that many have said about Bass’ handling of the wildfire response earlier this year include: cutting the budget for LAFD, declining help from outside firefighter organizations, not being involved in the initial fire response while on her flight back from Ghana and accusations of being on vacation in Ghana at the brink of the wildfires in January.

Mayor Bass joined members of the Palisades community to mark the clearing of the Palisades Branch Library, a crucial step in the recovery process.  Photo courtesy the mayor’s office.

Our Weekly spoke to Mayor Bass directly to address misinformation and the truth behind her fire response decisions. In response to her handling of the Palisades Fire, she wants Angelenos to understand that she only represents the City of Los Angeles, not other cities.

“I want Angelenos to know that (in terms of “the fires,”) as mayor I only represent the Palisades. I do not represent Altadena, I do not represent Topanga or Malibu. Also, we are doggedly committed to getting the Palisades rebuilt and getting people home as fast as possible,” said Mayor Bass. Her goal is to focus on rebuilding the Pacific Palisades and making the rebuilding process as smooth as possible, with a goal of establishing a better neighborhood.

She said that the wildfire illustrates how the city can be better prepared for such emergencies, if they occurred in the future. “This has shown us [more] about our city’s preparation and what we need to do to strengthen our Emergency Management Department.”

Mayor Bass’ journey is the definition of hard work ethic, resilience, and intentional leadership as she navigates through this chapter of her professional career, keeping solutions for Angelenos at the forefront. She is the first woman and second African American to be mayor of Los Angeles, a phenomenal feat that has been followed by notable accomplishments such as lowering rates of homelessness, providing housing for LA residents, and a 65 percent decrease in city homicides since 2024.

Before her current term as mayor, Karen Bass represented the 37th Congressional District of California that covered areas such as West Los Angeles, Culver City, Westwood, South Los Angeles.

Doing the work
On April 9, Mayor Bass expedited the rebuilding process of Palisades, implementing emergency executive action to eliminate the red tape and expedite the disaster recovery effort. She visited two different sites in Palisades that were issued building permits from the city to highlight the start of the rebuilding process. The first permits were issued 57 days after the Palisades Fire began, in which they took more than twice that time to be issued after both the Camp Fire (123 days) and the Woolsey Fire (230 days).

Mayor Bass joining a family on their property in the Palisades as they became one of the first families to begin the rebuilding process in less than three months after the start of the fires. Photo courtesy of the mayor’s office.

Mayor Bass told Our Weekly that the recovery and rebuilding process is divided into phases: phase 1 (completed in 28 days after the fire), debris removal; phase 2 (began 35 days after the fire), full clearing for property rebuilding; and phase 3, rebuilding. Phase 1 and phase 2 were completed months ahead of time as the permits allowed. In addition, power and water was also restored just two months after the fire, and nearly 2,000 properties have been cleared for fire debris as of Monday, according to Bass’ office. More information can be found here www.mayor.lacity.gov.

“We have been going at lightning speed when you compare [the recovery] to other fires. We are months ahead of the Paradise Fire, the Woosley Fire, and the Camp Fire… those are other fires that happened in our state. We are doing very well.” She also opened a Disaster Recovery Center and 4 other resource centers throughout Los Angeles County.

“I opened up centers to assist. I opened up a Disaster Recovery Center that had just about every public agency you can imagine including the passport office, the employment office, FEMA, SBA, Department of Motor Vehicles… so that people could come in and get duplicate documents. We served over 9,000 people.”

Mayor Bass joined the Army Corp of Engineers, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and LAUSD Board Member Nick Melovin as they toured the site of Palisades Charter Elementary School as the Army Corp had cleared debris from all three schools impacted by the Palisades fire. Photo courtesy of the mayor’s office.

The Disaster Recovery Center, opened in West Los Angeles, helped Palisades Fire victims gain access to vital documents, mental health resources, and the ability to apply for disaster relief loans. Workers who are helping with the rebuilding process are also able to utilize any resources needed from the Disaster Recovery Center.

“We also opened up the center for all of the workers who aren’t often thought of. It’s for the workers that worked in the homes, on the property, or on the small businesses that were around. We opened up four centers… those centers are still open and it’s for impacted workers,” said Mayor Bass.

The four additional recovery centers are located in West Adams/ Leimert Park, Northeast San Fernando Valley, Boyle Heights and West Los Angeles. These centers operate as safety nets of access to vital resources for those whose livelihood was affected by the Palisades Fire. Altadena residents are also eligible to receive services at the centers.

Keeping homeowners and business owners who were deeply affected in mind, Bass also opened the One-Stop Rebuilding Center. As another part of her executive order to streamline the rebuilding process, the One-Stop Rebuilding Center placed 10 departments under one building specifically to help business owners and homeowners obtain anything they need from the City during their rebuilding process.

On April 10, she also announced a public-private partnership with LA Strong Sports and other key Palisades groups to begin the rebuilding process of the Palisades Recreation center.

Harsh criticism
Through the challenge multiple news headlines since the beginning of the Palisades Fire, Mayor Bass has received a tremendous amount of criticism that sparked the launch of a recall effort and a public survey by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. The study highlighted Mayor Bass’ public image becoming tainted in 2025 in comparison to 2024. Almost half of LA residents showed lack of approval of her since the wildfires of 2025, in comparison to the previous year, of approximately 32 percent that did not favor Mayor Bass.

At the height of the Palisades Fire — in the midst of other fires at that time — rumors circulated of the mayor declining help from other fire organizations. In fact, firefighting units came from states and countries such as Utah, Washington, Northern California, Mexico and Canada.

Mayor Bass held a press conference with the Army Corp of Engineers to give an update on the City leading the fastest debris removal in California History while encouraging Palisades residents to fill out their Right of Entry forms. Photo courtesy of the mayor’s office.

There were also speculations about Mayor Bass not being involved in the initial fire response on her travels back to Los Angeles from Ghana. Recently, the Mayor’s office released a multitude of emails and text messages that highlight Mayor Bass’ (and members of her team) communication with federal, state, county, and local officials developing a sufficient response to the fire as she traveled back to domestic grounds.

Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president of the Los Angeles City Council, is a colleague of Mayor Bass and has witnessed the trajectory of her career in the face of adversity. Harris-Dawson suggests that the criticism Mayor Bass has received is unwarranted.

“One of her strongest characteristics is that she de-emphasizes the personal and emphasizes the work product. Even though she has gotten a lot of unfair criticism – [some] criticism coming directly from people she defeated in her run for mayor – she is focused on the work and making sure we have the best possible recovery that we can.”

In response to the criticism and her efforts to rebuild while withstanding some of the public’s negative perception of her, Mayor Bass told Our Weekly:
“In the news media, in today’s environment… a lot of the attention is paid and given to rumors and intrigue. It’s unfortunate because there is a lot of misinformation and disinformation out there. It’s unfortunate because the people that have been traumatized by the fires, it just furthers their trauma and creates confusion over what is actually happening.”

Mayor Bass meeting with the Army Corp of Engineers in the Palisades. Photo courtesy of the mayor’s office.

Bass told Our Weekly that she thinks other public figures — who publicly criticized her handling of the fires — simply wanted to take advantage of what they perceived to be a moment to ‘take a jab’ for political reasons. Also, to capitalize on her not being in the country at the brink of the wildfires. Her trip to Ghana was a presidential order and diplomatic mission at the request of then-President Joe Biden.

“Of course I feel horrible that I wasn’t here on the ground when my city needed me but I think for some people, it was an opportunity to turn that into something more than it actually was.”

Joy Atkinson, public affairs administrator for the Citizens for Accountable Leadership (CAL), has known and worked with Mayor Bass for years. Atkinson told Our Weekly that despite the harsh backlash Bass has received this year, she did a fabulous job in the recovery efforts of the Palisades Fire.

“She did a great job and set a record for clearing a fire of that magnitude. It’s really hard to understand how ‘it’s never enough’ and as a politician… it’s never going to be enough. I think she knows that she did a great job. And I know as a constituent that she did a great job.”

Bass’ criticism eventually grew into a sworn negative news headlines and the launch of a recall effort. A woman by the name of Nicole Shahanan, is known as the lead person who is funding a committee called the Recall Karen Bass Committee, according to Ballotpedia.org.

Experts suggest that the Mayor Bass’ recall will most likely not come to a vote due to the fact that a staggering 333,000 signatures are required.

In response to the recall effort, Mayor Bass told Our Weekly that she is doing everything in her power to stay focused on the task at hand, helping the city of Los Angeles recover.

“The individual who is initiating the recall… lives in San Francisco and as far as I know has absolutely no ties in LA. According to the news reports she was interested in raising her name ID. “ She continued, “Unfortunately, she chose to do it this way if that is true… I don’t know. It is just what I read.”

She went on to say that it is clear that her known — and unknown opponents — have a common goal, to cause confusion and instability among LA residents’ perception of her.

“If the recall were to qualify – which of course I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t qualify – the recall election will be in January and I’m up for re-election in June. So, the city right now has a huge deficit, we are worried about the economy given the instability from D.C. and I don’t know why the city would need this. If you really care about Los Angeles, why would you put Los Angeles through this when I’m up for re-election shortly after?”

The LAFD Budget, revisited
Bass then went on to share her thoughts about public misinformation surrounding the LAFD Budget cuts, sparked by former LAFD Chief Crowley. Crowley suggested that Bass was responsible for LAFD’s lack of resources that inhibited an efficient response to the Palisades wildfire, due to Bass’ alleged LAFD budget cuts for the city’s 2024-25 fiscal year.
“The budget cuts were false, they never happened. That is a very important point… I think Chief Crowley was worried about blame not being placed on her. What we do know is that she sent 1,000 firefighters home the morning of the fire but there were 40 fire engines that were idle because there were not any firefighters to manage the engines.” She continued. “We also know that she had access to funds and in the midst of an emergency, you never sit there and count your dollars… you solve the emergency.”

On Friday Jan. 10, Crowley spoke publicly and said that LAFD did not have enough resources to combat the wildfires due to budget cuts, criticizing the city, and adding tension between herself and Mayor Bass.

In an interview with Fox 11 Los Angeles, Chief Crowley Kristin stated that she was not a politician and that her priority was to support LAFD firefighters receiving the resources they need to protect Los Angeles. She also said budget cuts made it hard for the firefighters to properly handle the emergency and on the Tuesday prior, also said the city was responsible for the water running out leaving only 20 percent of fire hydrants.
Mayor Bass has said publicly, multiple times, that the reductions have not hindered LAFD’s capability to operate properly in the state of an emergency.

After the two publicly shared their differences for a few months, former LAFD Chief Crowley was terminated from her position in February, and attempted to appeal her dismissal through LA City Council, in which, the appeal was also dismissed.

Mayor Bass told Our Weekly that initially, Crowley expressed concern about budget cuts but after the wildfires “it was very clear that we had a difference of opinion whether budget cuts happened at all.”

Before the Palisades Fire, the two had an amicable professional relationship. “My relationship with her was excellent which is why I was surprised at how she responded.”
Our weekly has reached out to the Office of Mayor Karen Bass for further clarity about the LAFD budget cuts. They’ve shared the following:

“The Fire Department’s budget was increased by $111 million compared with the previous year. The Fire Department’s funding under the Bass Administration is the highest it’s been in at least 15 years. This includes raises for our firefighter heroes and increases in funding for vehicles and equipment. Regardless of these increases, the Mayor believes that the department needs more funding in order to increase their resources.”

The statement continued, “ Additionally, in the Mayor’s 2025-26 proposed balanced budget builds on the investments, providing funding for the purchases for additional apparatuses and civilian staffing.”

911 Dispatchers
In 2024, the City also hired more than 140 additional 911 dispatchers, as long wait times during 911 calls are a constant concern for many Angelenos. Full funding for 691 dispatchers (police service representatives) is also a focal point that is mentioned in the Mayor’s 2025-26 budget, which are the supervisors who handle emergency calls. The full 25-26 budget plan is available online at https://cao.lacity.gov/budget25 26/BudgetSummary/.

The following map details a breakdown of the allocated budget over the past 15 years.

As the city of Los Angeles braces itself for an almost $1-billion budget deficit, Mayor Bass has geared up to handle the challenge head on. In her State of the City Address, on April 21, she made it clear that her priority is to get the city of Los Angeles through the upcoming fiscal year and find solutions. She also noted her documented progress that has been made to combat homelessness through programs such as We Are LA and crime in of Los Angeles declining, which are positives in a bustling city currently in recovery.

Initially, Bass said that more than 1,600 layoffs, right along with other reductions to assist with the city’s effort to reduce the roughly $1-billion budget deficit. On May 17, the LA Council Committee and Mayor Bass met to discuss how to salvage some jobs for LA city workers. In the meeting, the Council voted to salvage the number of employees selected for layoffs by a little over half, estimating over 600 jobs.

The committee also discussed a slowdown in sworn hiring for LAPD officers, layoffs of 42 LAFD emergency incident technicians, and increasing parking meter fees.

Looking ahead, Bass also has announced that she will also take a pay cut to help tackle the task of reducing the $1 billion budget deficit. Maybe it is safe to say that regardless if people may not favor her due to misinformation, Bass has factually proven the positive strides she has made and is willing to take, in order to help the City of Los Angeles.