Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, 72, is seeking a second term in the Nov. 3 election, after being forced into a runoff by City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a onetime ally.
A former state Assembly speaker and member of Congress, Bass became the city’s first female mayor in 2022, when she defeated billionaire developer Rick Caruso.
Once in office, she focused much of her energy on reducing homelessness and bolstering the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department. In 2025, she faced sharp criticism over the city’s response to the January Palisades fire, and for being in Ghana when the fire began amid high wind warnings.
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The Times spoke with her on the seventh floor of an apartment building under construction in West Los Angeles — one made possible by her order fast-tracking approval of affordable housing. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Times: What is your single biggest accomplishment as mayor?
Bass: Well, it’s hard for me to narrow it to just one. But I do think this [building] is a perfect example of a huge accomplishment, which is affordable housing. And the fact that we have built more affordable housing in the four years that I’ve been mayor than was built many, many years before.
Really, the accomplishment was changing the rules and expediting [affordable] housing.
The Times: And what would you say is the biggest mistake you made while serving as mayor?
Bass: No question. Not being here for the fire, and being out of the country.
The Times: Why, or how, do you think that happened?
Bass: How do I think it happened that I was out of the country?
The Times: There were warnings about wind. There was concern about fire risk. Some on your staff received those warnings.
Bass: It happened in the city and in the county, that there were warnings. But no one thought those warnings elevated to a point of a crisis, or an impending crisis.
What you know about weather events is, any time we think there’s going to be a major concern, everybody comes together. There’s press conferences, there’s briefings, and the public is informed about what could possibly happen. That was not done in the city. That was not done in the county.
And when I came back and spoke to [then-Fire Chief Kristin Crowley] and said, “Why didn’t you raise the alarm?” — because she had done that for previous emergencies — she basically said, “Mayor, we get Santa Ana winds all the time. We just didn’t think it was going to be that bad.”
[Crowley has sued Bass, accusing her of defamation and damaging her reputation for her remarks about the Palisades fire response.]
So the bottom line is, I was not aware, otherwise I would have not left the country. However, it’s no excuse. The bottom line is, I wasn’t here when the city needed me. And that’s a pain point for me, that I was not where I should have been, where I was needed.
I always do the analogy of, if you’re out of town and a family member is hurt or sick, it doesn’t matter where you are or why you were out of town. What matters is you weren’t there when your family needed it. And the city is my family.
Dodge — Spin — Duck
But NEVER answer with the truth….. BECAUSE THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE.
That means she would never be elected.
The only activism she has expressed is going to Cuba and hanging with the communist’s aka Fidel Castro and her newfound relationship with Hasan Piker. You will have nothing and be happy! This is their moniker. This corrupt California government just gets worse and worse. Fraud is their game and pocketing the cash for programs is what they do best. If San Francisco was not a big enough clue for Newsom’s complete destruction and ruination of SF, yet these pig headed, nonsensical, progressive/communist voters keep voting for the same old thing. They moan when gas prices go up and yet Newsom adds at least $2.00 more than any other state. Inflation was rampant and left over from Biden’s reign and it doesn’t go away in 2 years, they complain when the health care system is broken by Obama’s evisceration implementing Obamacare, perhaps the most expensive healthcare offering ever. These people complain and expect miracles and then when they vote like losers and don’t like the results they move to another red state and wonder why they ruin that state with their stinking vote. These voters should have to remain here and enjoy the devastation of their lifestyle. They should never be allowed to move.