Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faces mounting backlash over wildfire response

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) is facing mounting backlash over her response to the wildfires that have torn through her city, raising questions about her own political future as the region continues to struggle to contain the fires.

Critics point to Bass’s decision to travel out of the country ahead of the wildfires after she vowed not to go abroad before taking office, as well as for approving a budget that decreased funding for the city’s fire department. 

The criticism comes as multiple California officials have faced blame for the wildfires, which have taken the lives of at least 24 people. But Bass has faced some of the fiercest criticism, being the leader of the city as well as a noted progressive who defeated a wealthy former Republican to win the mayoral race in 2022.

“She failed the leadership test,” said one California Democratic strategist. “This is the kind of moment that can be really devastating for a politician.”

Bass has come under more scrutiny than most local California politicians given the fact that Los Angeles has been at the center of the crisis. 

On Monday, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong, called the publication’s endorsement of Bass “a mistake,” noting he “thought it was very important early on for me to come out.”

President-elect Trump has attacked both Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) over the fires. And, as of Tuesday, a Change.org petition calling for Bass to step down has received more than 134,000 signatures.

But some of the most notable criticism of Bass, who is up for reelection next year, came from her 2022 Republican-turned-Democratic opponent Rick Caruso. 

“We’ve got a mayor that’s out of the country and a city that’s burning and there’s no resources to put out fires,” Caruso told Fox 11 News in Los Angeles last week. “It looks like we’re in a third world country and we’ve got a lot of tough questions that we need to ask the mayor and the City Council and our representatives and the county representatives. Why didn’t you work to mitigate this?” 

Tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk is among those who have voiced support for Caruso. 

“[Caruso] seized the moment,” the California Democratic strategist said. “In a vacuum, OK fine, her standing is hurt politically, but here’s a guy who is obviously very wealthy and well resourced.” 

“He’s leveraged it to his advantage.”

The criticism of Bass began when she was on her way back from an official trip to Ghana for the inauguration of the country’s president. The journey back came as the wildfires were breaking out in the greater Los Angeles region. It also came four years after she told The New York Times that she would not travel internationally if elected mayor. 

Bass’s supporters have pushed back on this, citing Los Angeles’s status as an international city and home to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. 

“People want someone to blame,” said Steve Maviglio, a Democratic consultant who was Bass’s deputy chief of staff when she served in the State Assembly. “She was the easy target because she wasn’t here.” 

In a statement to The Hill on Tuesday, Bass's office slammed what it called misinformation surrounding the crisis and her response. 

"Mayor Bass is leading our city through one of the worst crises in our history. Hurricane-force winds and unseasonably dry conditions drove these firestorms – misinformation surrounding this crisis has been staggering," said the mayor's spokesperson Zach Seidl. "Mayor Bass issued a sweeping executive order last night to clear the way to rebuild homes fast and that will do everything she can to get Angelenos back home. She has secured the federal, state, and local resources we need to continue fighting these fires and is moving forward on an all-of-the-above plan for recovery."

The trouble for Bass continued the moment she landed in Los Angeles, when she remained silent while being peppered with questions from a Sky News reporter about her response to the fires, her foreign trip and backlash from critics. 

The mayor came under further scrutiny regarding $17.6 million cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget, which critics say have impacted the response to the catastrophe. 

Last week, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said in an interview she believed the city failed its firefighters during the crisis. 

But Bass’s supporters note that at the time the city was negotiating a contract with the firefighters union and that the City Council voted to approve a union contract that would increase salaries and benefits for union members. 

Additionally, Bass's allies pointed to an analysis from the Los Angeles Times that showed the department's budget grew by seven percent after the city council approved funds for salaries, new firetrucks and other purchases. 

"That technical detail that people who have never liked Karen Bass are definitely jumping on to say, 'Look she cut the department,'" said Mike Trujillo, a Los Angeles-based Democratic strategist. “Now in terms of the fire chief saying this or that didn’t happen, I don’t think the fire chief is wrong. She’s an expert in her field, but I don’t know that an extra $17 million would have made a drop of difference when it came to 200 mph winds.” 

Others argue there are other ways the city could have been better prepared to respond to the catastrophic situation. 

“It seems like so much of the public debate has focused on these very sexy and controversial two issues at the expense of what our city really needs to learn from its mistakes,” said former California Assembly member Mike Gatto (D), referring to Bass’s foreign travel and the Fire Department.

“It’s simple things like response time, keeping evacuation routes open, doing more brush clearance, proactively spraying hillsides with fire retardant,” he said. 

Bass’s allies maintain she has been a constant, public force amid the fires. On Tuesday, Bass issued an executive order that would expedite the rebuilding of lost homes. 

“What Karen Bass’s strength is she’s a quiet operator that builds coalitions,” Trujillo said. “She’s not going to pound her chest. She’s not going to put her name on things for ego’s sake.” 

But some question whether Bass will be able to survive this political crisis.

“I don’t know if she can recover,” the unnamed strategist said. “The one moment where voters really paid close attention, and you have one chance to make a first impression, and then she hasn’t come under a lot of scrutiny as mayor up until this point.” 

Updated at 8:57 p.m. EST.