Karen Bass Needs to Go

She has proven to be a huge disappointment

The first time I met Karen Bass was at a meeting hosted by the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition (LANCC). For the uninitiated, the Neighborhood Council system was created in 1999 via a ballot initiative that amended the City Charter. Its purpose is “to promote more citizen participation in government and make government more responsive to local needs.” There are 99 NCs in the city. LANCC is a monthly gathering of NC leaders.

Bass joined the meeting a couple of months after she was sworn in. She spoke fondly of the NC system and its role in local democracy. She also evinced a strong knowledge of L.A. political history, and discussed her plans for the future. The most impressive part of her appearance was during the Q&A session. Some 50 people raised their Zoom hands. LANCC Chair Terrance Gomes told the mayor and the attendees that he would get to as many as possible, but that there probably wasn’t time for everyone.

Bass replied, “Let’s do them six or seven at a time.” Gomes was surprised, but nonetheless ***. The first seven questions took about 10 minutes. Bass didn’t take a single note. When the final questioner was done, she started answering. She remembered every questioner’s name, their neighborhood, and their question. She responded with specificity and detail. This went on for nearly an hour, seven questions and seven answers at a time. It was a damn impressive performance.

Bass enjoyed an extended honeymoon. In retrospect, the grace period had less to do with her than the fact that she wasn’t Eric Garcetti. After a decade of Mr. Slick, her down to earth, no nonsense approach to the job was refreshing.

At least, on the surface.

Even before her spectacular failure before, during, and in the wake of the catastrophic January 2025 firestorms, cracks were apparent in her leadership. The city is no more prepared for the 2028 Olympics, even as time becomes critical. Day to day life has not improved, as petty crime, cracked sidewalks, dying trees, graffiti, crumbling infrastructure, and disintegrating streets continue to be quotidian realities. Her much ballyhooed homeless initiative, Inside Safe, has proven to be little more than a retread of previous failures. According to multiple independent analyses, the program is spending as much as $17,009 a month per person on temporary housing, and an eye-watering $2 million per person to “permanently” house a few hundred people. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of addicts and lunatics continue to languish in hellish conditions on the streets of L.A.

Then came the fires.

In the midst of a historic natural catastrophe, Bass has failed at quite literally every step of the way. Rather than digging in and ensuring the city was prepared for historic Santa Ana winds, she jetted off on a literal ego trip to attend the inauguration of the new president of Ghana. Because apparently she thinks that’s part of the job description of the Mayor of Los Angeles. When she did return, she stood silent and stone faced when a reporter questioned her about her absence. She has proved again and again that she’s not up to the task.

There’s a certain arrogance in many politicians these days. Bass spent two decades as a legislator, first in the California state assembly and then as a member of Congress. Before she ran for mayor she had no previous executive experience. Yet her ego told her that being CEO of the nation’s second largest city was really no different than being a lawmaker in the legislative branch.

Yes, it is. It’s very different.

Please, spare the bromides about how January’s Santa Anas were “unprecedented,” and that we were collectively powerless. Nonsense. Bass could have ensured resources were prepositioned on the ground, that firefighting aircraft were in the air scouting for smoke. She could have pounded the airwaves for days telling Angelenos how to prepare, what to look for, what they could have done. Instead, she flew to another continent to be important.

Her lack of executive skills has been on full display the last five weeks. Tens of thousands of Angelenos are enduring the consequences. She spent 24 critical hours in a political spat with her own fire chief. She offered nothing of substance in her many media appearances. On Friday January 31, she announced that the Palisades would reopen, then reversed herself less than 24 hours later. She had not so much as informed LAFD and LAPD, much less consulted with them. Last Friday the Los Angeles Times reported that her handpicked “recovery czar,” developer Steve Soboroff, was to be paid $500,000 for three months’ work. In the face of the predictable outrage, Bass reversed again, announcing that Soboroff will work for free.

Even though she appointed Soboroff as “czar,” last Thursday she announced that the city – meaning herself – had also hired an “emergency management consulting firm” to oversee recovery efforts. Last year two senior consultants at the firm, Hagerty Consulting, pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for embezzling funds intended for Hurricane Sandy victims. The city also hired two other consulting firms, AECOM and IEM, in a process the Los Angeles Times described as, “shrouded in secrecy.” Because why engage in transparency at this point?

At a historic moment when Angelenos needed leadership more than ever, Karen Bass has proven herself to be a case study in failure. At this point she seems to be coming up with mistakes just so that she can make them.

Angelenos deserve better. Karen Bass has proved beyond doubt that she is not up to the task of leading Los Angeles through the agonizing process of recovery. For the good of the city, and for her own sake, she must step down.