Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass pushes back against criticism over management of wildfires
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has faced questions about her leadership and alleged lack of initial presence during the ongoing wildfires affecting the area.
Bass was away from the city on a planned diplomatic trip to Ghana Tuesday when the Palisades Fire first erupted and has been hit by critics for her leadership during the disaster, particularly from her 2022 Republican mayoral opponent Rick Caruso, who accused her of "abandoning her post" in an interview with Politico.
The mayor, who did post a warning about the windstorm on social media Monday, declined to respond to a reporter Wednesday who asked why she did not return to the city fast enough and she dodged the question again during a news conference Thursday.
"Let me just say, first and foremost, my number one focus, and I think the focus of all of us here with one voice, protect lives, we have to save lives and we have to save homes. 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, [and] what didn't work, and to correct or to hold accountable any body, department, individual, etc.," Bass said Thursday. "But my focus right now is on the lives and on the homes."
Bass, a former U.S. representative who chaired the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, was part of a four-member presidential delegation attending Tuesday's inauguration of John Dramani Mahama as Ghana's president.
She arrived back in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon after the various wildfires already scorched thousands of acres of the county and destroyed homes and businesses.
The mayor told reporters Wednesday that she took the "fastest route back, which included being on a military plane."
Wildfire experts contend that it was impossible to have enough resources or preparedness for a disaster such as this.
Clearing up confusion over fire department budget
Some critics have lashed out at the mayor over the budget for the city's fire department, which saw its funding cut by nearly $17.5 million this fiscal year, records show.
However, at the time the budget was approved the city was negotiating its contract with the fire department union and had not reached a deal over salaries, the records show. So as part of the budget deal, additional funding for the department was set aside in a separate fund while union negotiations continued.
When the deal was reached between the city and the union in November, the money from the fund was given back to the department, Bass said.
"So, I think it's most important to understand that we were in tough budgetary times. Everybody knew that, but that the impact of our budget really did not impact what we've been going through over the last few days," she said.
A spokesperson for Los Angeles City Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who previously chaired the council's budget and finance committee, told ABC News the updated budget in November saw a $53 million increase over the previous year once the council took into account the department's unappropriated balance calculation, which provides funds after the budget is approved.
The current fiscal year budget included money to hire 220 firefighters in three new academy classes at the Valley Recruit Training Academy, according to city documents.
Bass repeatedly noted that the fires are unprecedented, however, she expressed frustration Thursday with reports that firefighters did not have water.
"We also know that fire hydrants are not constructed to deal with this type of massive devastation, and that the number one problem, especially on ... Wednesday, was the fact that we weren't able to do the air support because of the winds, and so, of course, I am absolutely frustrated by that," she said.
President Joe Biden, citing California Gov. Gavin Newsom, told reporters Thursday that a power shutdown was a factor in the water shortage. The president said there was concern about downed power lines creating more sparks.
"CAL Fire, when it did that, it cut off the ability to generate pumping the water. That's what caused the lack of water in these hydrants," he said.
