Mayor Karen Bass Throws LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley Under the Bus, More Precisely under a Broken Fire Engine

Nero fiddled while Rome was burning. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was sipping cocktails at a reception in Ghana while her city was burning on January 7. Instead of really accepting blame she resorted to Plan B, deflect blame on someone else. She apologized for being out of the country, but blamed her absence, and the city’s unpreparedness, on Los Angeles Fire Chief (LAFD) Kristin Crowley, who she claimed had not notified her of the risk of the Santa Ana winds. She did not apologize for her $17 million budget cuts for the LAFD, which crippled its preparedness ability. The Mayor did not mention the warning letter Chief Crowley sent her a few weeks earlier about the extreme risk caused by the budget cuts. She did not mention, explain or apologize for seeking a $70 million cut in the LAFD budget. She did not mention, explain or apologize for gutting the Los Angeles Fire Department and imperiling public safety while giving a $316 million pay raise to unionized public employees in the first year, rising to $1 billion in 2028. Mayor is simply a politician focused on placating her base rather than the public good. Mayor Bass did not mention, explain, or apologize for a $750,000 appointment of Janisse Quinones as Director of the Department of Water and Power (DWP). Director Quinones was focused on bring DWI to DWP rather than fixing a reservoir above the Palisades and the scores of inoperable fire hydrants in the Palisades and neighboring communities. Director Quinones apparently still has her job. Mayor Bass was apparently the only person in the greater Los Angeles area who was unaware a mighty Santa Ana was approaching. The National Weather broadcast days of warnings including an extreme fire risk. It was on the media. She did no mention that over half of LAFD’s fire vehicles are stored fender to fender in a maintenance/storage yard because of a shortage of mechanics and parts. Only five firetrucks were prepositioned in advance of the January 7 Palisades Fire. That’s all that were available thanks to budget cuts and deferred maintenance. Mayor Bass and Possibly Governor Newsom seem to have abandoned climate change as the culprit. Everyone, except perhaps Mayor Bass, is well aware of the ferocity of the Santa Anas. Blaming them on climate change is like blaming climate change for hurricanes in Florida and New Orleans, and tornados in Tornado Alley. Her stoneface response in her return at LAX will an ad against in her future campaigns. She appeared catatonic or in shock. Her perennial smile fell off her face. Many leaders are never tested. They can sail through good times. Leaders can either step up or fail during an existential crisis. Karen Bass failed.