I keep seeing questions about the location of Karen Bass and I don't understand the outrage. Did she fly to Ghana when the fires erupted? Is she not allowed to take vacations? Was she expected to magically reappear in California when things got out of hand? Has her responsiveness been extremely latent.
Ok, I understand some of the criticism now. 1.) She cut funding to the fire department budget by millions of dollars. 2.) There is a video floating around where she is totally unresponsive to questions.
"That assertion is wrong. The city was in the process of negotiating a new contract with the fire department at the time the budget was being crafted, so additional funding for the department was set aside in a separate fund until that deal was finalized in November. In fact, the city’s fire budget increased more than $50 million year-over-year compared to the last budget cycle, according to Blumenfield’s office, although overall concerns about the department’s staffing level have persisted for a number of years."
From behind a keyboard and who knows how far away from Los Angeles you are, you may look at it with other eyes than the people who lost their homes in the fires.
And yes, in the end the mayor is responsible for the wellbeing of the city. And people see the mayor is nowhere to be found when their homes burned down. Who do you want them to be mad at?
Texas governor was in Acapulco and nobody blamed him.
Anyway on topic an aunt of mine is a mayor of a small city (55k). Her opinion is that firefighters fight fires and having a politician walk around a disaster area with a hundred journalists isn't helping.
I think the outrage is part political, but it's also justified. The warnings were in place that the fire risk was extreme. The language experts were using to describe the upcoming weather conditions was "unprecedented," given both the winds and importantly the lack of measurable rain. These warnings were issued many days in advance of fires starting, before Karen Bass went to Africa, and yet, even with these warnings in place, she decided to get on a plane and head to Africa. I can 100% guarantee she was briefed on that, that she had deliberations with her staff about it, and that she decided to hop on the plane anyway. I do think it was a major strategic mistake on her part and I think people are rightly outraged about it. Of course the political part has poured gasoline on that legitimate outrage and that part is appalling since the crisis is still very much ongoing.
Of course that outrage assumes you believe that a mayor should be on the scene even if they're not, in this case, holding onto a hose and actively suppressing fire. I personally think that's a fair ask of her constituents. It would be an entirely different story if this was an unpredictable situation, but, again, every expert commenting pointed out how unique the upcoming weather was and that there was the very real potential for massive fires.
Many were asking the question when the news came out prior to the fires. In terms of actual management, I'd rather leave that to the city's experts. As long as the city didn't pay for it (which was the assumption), then I'm ok with it. Otherwise, I'd rather she spend her time here trying to fix domestic issues.
I think it's one of those issues where both sides of the aisle could agree except for the right-wing side turned it into this weird DEI stuff.
I don't live in LA but would Karen Bass even have much of any input? The palisades is mostly Santa Monica no? Sure its part of LA county but why would the mayor of LA have any input on Santa Monica / Santa Monica mountains. Genuinely curious why she is in the spotlight compared to the local officials in Santa Monica?
Edit: I continue to see her name pop up in the news and I have been trying to understand how LA works in that she is in the complete spotlight. There are fires in surrounding LA but does the city of LA mayor have any control in those?
> She went to Ghana on a taxpayer paid political junket, which doesn't seem like something the mayor of even a major city would be officially involved in
I live in a very mid-size city for my province and our mayor goes on international trips on city business maybe once a year. The fact itself is not out of the ordinary.
That assertion is wrong. The city was in the process of negotiating a new
contract with the fire department at the time the budget was being crafted,
so additional funding for the department was set aside in a separate fund
until that deal was finalized in November. In fact, the city’s fire budget
increased more than $50 million year-over-year compared to the last budget
cycle, according to Blumenfield’s office, although overall concerns about
the department’s staffing level have persisted for a number of years.
So… no?
DEI obsessed fire chief…DEI office and bureaucracy.
