Karen Bass faces political firestorm as blazes burn Los Angeles
- While Bass claims that no budget cuts impacted the firefighting efforts, LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley directly contradicted this, stating that the cuts had a negative impact on the firefight.
- The mayor’s office maintains that all necessary resources are being deployed to combat the wildfires and that any associated costs will be covered.
- Bass is also under fire for being out of the country when the blazes began, having left on a diplomatic trip to attend the inauguration of Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday.
LOS ANGELES − Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing political heat from across the city and beyond as catastrophic fires continue to burn for the fourth day.
The fires have killed at least 10 people and burned nearly 25,000 acres in the Los Angeles region as of Friday, though not all the blazes are under Bass’ jurisdiction. Among the ones that are include the biggest: the Palisades Fire, which broke out Tuesday and rapidly consumed thousands of homes as residents fled for their lives. It had burned more than 20,000 acres as of Friday afternoon and has wreaked havoc since it ignited.
Bass is facing criticism over two issues in particular: a funding cut to the Los Angeles Fire Department in the fire-prone region and the timing of a diplomatic trip to Ghana as dangerous fire conditions loomed.
“She knew that we had a major wind event coming up that had the potential for a wildfire,” said Tom Doran, who fled the Palisades Fire that destroyed his home early Wednesday morning. “She’s off in another country, and at the taxpayer’s expense, when she should’ve been here … She is the chief executive of Los Angeles. Yes, she delegates but if you delegate you’re the one in charge.”
Bass dodged directly addressing the Ghana trip and other criticisms − including from President-elect Trump − at a news conference Thursday and said the focus is on fighting the fires.
“Rest assured that when that is done, when we are safe, when lives have been saved and homes have been saved, we will absolutely do an evaluation to look at what worked, what didn’t work, and to correct or to hold accountable anybody, department, individual, etcetera,” Bass said. “But my focus right now is on the lives and on the homes.”
Fire Department budget cuts burn Bass as fires blaze
Budget documents obtained by USA TODAY show that the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget was reduced from $837 million in fiscal year 2024 to $819 million in fiscal year 2025 as a part of broader cuts for the year.
“LAFD’s operating budget did get reduced by $17.6 million – part of that reduction included 61 total positions (civilian) being eliminated,” the city’s controller’s office said in comments sent to USA TODAY accompanying the documents.
A report from the fire department sent to the mayor and city council in December says: “These budgetary reductions have adversely affected the Department’s ability to maintain core operations.”
The fire department report states that a $7 million reduction in overtime funding “further exacerbated operational challenges across key bureaus” including those that deal with wildfire management and air operations.
Bass said in Thursday’s news conference that “there were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation over the last couple of days.”
California Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman said on CNN Thursday that the cuts were aimed at training funding to be spent in 2025.
“These cuts, I think, will be reversed, and should be, and they were perhaps ill-advised,” Sherman said. “But they’re not a reason why the Palisades have suffered – this was money to train people in 2025.”
The December report states that: “The LAFD’s ability to respond to large-scale emergencies, such as wildfires, earthquakes, and hazardous materials incidents, is significantly diminished, increasing risks to both public and firefighter safety.”
Los Angeles fire Chief Kristin Crowley blasted the $17 million budget cut on CNN on Friday, saying that she had warned the city for three years that the department has been underfunded and under-resourced.
“The $17 million budget cut and elimination of our civilian positions, like our mechanics, did and has and will continue to severely impact our ability to repair our apparatus. With that we have over 100 apparatus out of service. Having these apparatus and the proper amount of mechanics would have helped,” Crowely said. “So it did absolutely negatively impact (the firefight).”
Defenders of Bass point to the fact that the city was in contract negotiations with the fire department when the budget was being created, causing the city to move funds intended for fire department pay into the general fund.
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City administrator: Critical firefighting ops are fully funded
The controller’s office noted that nearly $105 million was set aside in the city’s general fund for payroll changes but said a fraction of the money had been given to the fire department. “We do not see funds transferred for the fire department’s raises,” the controller’s office said.
When asked about the controller’s statements, the mayor’s office referred USA TODAY to City Administrator Matt Szabo, who said that critical firefighting operations had been fully funded.
“The fire department has full authorization to deploy whatever resources are necessary to respond to the wildfires and those costs will be fully covered,” Szabo said in an interview with USA TODAY on Friday.
Szabo said he intends to recommend the transfer of funds to the City Council for a salary increase “in the coming weeks.”
Left wing activists in the city have said that Bass prioritized the Los Angeles Police Department over the fire department in the city’s budget.
City Councilmember Traci Park took aim at Bass in an interview with Fox 11 Thursday, calling out the underfunding of infrastructure in the city. “These circumstances are not unforeseeable. This was just a matter of time until it happened in the Pacific Palisades,” Park said.
Tina Knowles, whose daughter is Beyoncé, was among those defending Bass, writing on Instagram: “This mayor has always worked diligently for the betterment of Los Angeles and all communities. Another opportunity to attack a black woman in power.”
Ghana trip draws ire
Bass was out of the country as the Palisades caught fire, having left on a diplomatic trip to attend the inauguration of Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday.
The National Weather Service forecasted fire weather for the week as early as Friday and forecasted “A LIFE-THREATENING, DESTRUCTIVE, Widespread Windstorm” Monday.
The mayor is the head of the city’s Emergency Operations Organization, according to the city’s website.
When confronted by Sky News upon her return to the city Wednesday, Bass declined to answer whether she owed Los Angeles residents an apology for her absence. Bass said that she was in “constant contact” during the fires and had taken the “fastest route back” in a Wednesday press conference.
Liberal podcast host Tommy Vietor said in a post on X that Bass made an, “inexplicable decision to not come back earlier.” Conservative billionaire and former mayoral opponent Rick Caruso said in an interview with Fox 11 Wednesday that, “we have got a mayor that is out of the country, and we have got a city that is burning.”
Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who represents parts of the San Fernando Valley − including those hit with evacuation warnings and orders after the Kenneth Fire started Thursday − told Politico that the mayor had been able to perform her duties from afar.
“Doing all the work − contacting the first responders, working with (city) council, working with everyone − is something that you can do remotely,” Blumenfield said. “It’s a luxury for folks to sit on the sidelines and cast aspersions and be politically divisive at a time when our sole focus at this moment should be health and safety.”
Contributing: Anna Kaufman
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