When disaster strikes, the public expects its elected officials to project an image of leadership. Hence, Californians have watched Gov. Gavin Newsom show up at the Los Angeles wildfires, where he has expressed condolences, answered questions and promised billions of dollars in disaster aid. He’s announced useful reforms that will streamline rebuilding efforts.
There’s plenty to criticize about the governor’s overall policies, but there’s no question he’s taking the right tack. But what about Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass? Disasters offer unexpected leadership tests. Quite frankly, she’s failed it in a spectacular way. Her bewildering response may put an end to her political career, as withering criticisms continue.
State and national politicians are blasting her response. She’s largely refused media interviews. The owner of the Los Angeles Times announced his regret for his newspaper’s endorsement of her in 2022. (We have no such regret, our editorial board endorsed Rick Caruso over Karen Bass.) 92,000 Angelenos have signed a recall petition declaring “the city has been woefully unprepared to ensure the safety and well-being of its residents … and leadership has been nowhere to be found.”
“If you look at her replies (on social media) now, she could be posting a video of her literally running into a burning building and taking a child out of there, and people would still be replying ‘resign!,’” one community watchdog told Politico. That hurts. Previously she had a decent image and led some notable reforms on housing (despite some backsliding). But when it mattered most, Bass was out of her depth.
The criticisms are spreading as quickly as the fires. “As the Palisades fire exploded in Los Angeles on Jan. 7, Mayor Karen Bass was posing for photos at an embassy cocktail party in Ghana,” the Times reported this week. Other publications noted her campaign promise not to travel abroad, but she left for Africa as weather reports predicted a windstorm. When this is the coverage from mainstream media publications, you know a liberal politician is in trouble.
The most cringe-worthy video – and one that will no doubt circulate widely if she runs for re-election – came as she exited the military plane from Ghana. A reporter asked her questions and she stood there awkwardly in stony silence. The questions were tough, but not particularly hostile. They were questions virtually everyone was asking or at least thinking.
Bass didn’t do much better in follow-up TV coverage, as she dodged and weaved. The mayor of the nation’s second-largest city ought to have the political skills to say something relevant and not look like a deer in the headlights. Her media team has emphasized that the mayor is busy at work helping secure state and federal aid. That’s no doubt true, but a large part of a leader’s job is to act like a leader, to show compassion and project an in-charge image.
The fire, of course, raises serious long-running policy questions about the city’s preparedness, in terms of brush-clearance, water availability and fire-fighting resource issues. This Editorial Board routinely complains about our state’s focus on ephemeral issues while it neglects its basic public-safety and infrastructure responsibilities.
The silver lining: The wildfires will focus attention on whether the current leadership is up to the challenge and whether voters are ready for a self-correction. In the meantime, Bass is the poster child for how not to handle a disaster.