Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said that her trip abroad during the ravaging wildfires is under investigation by her own office.
Bass traveled to Ghana to attend the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama as devastating flames and high winds burned over 57,000 acres of land throughout her own city, according to city data. After the embattled mayor said very little regarding her overseas trip, she told Fox 11’s Elex Michaelson in an interview aired Tuesday that she would never have made the trip to Africa if she had been made well aware of the wildfires’ severity.
“First of all, when the White House called and asked me if I would represent [former President Joe Biden], I said yes, it was a very, very short trip over a weekend and two business days,” Bass said. “We need to look at everything about the preparation and all of that for the fires because I think when we evaluate that, we will find that although there were warnings that I frankly wasn’t aware of, I think our preparation wasn’t what it typically is … That type of preparation didn’t happen. If it had, I will tell you, Elex, I wouldn’t have even gone to San Diego, let alone leave the country.”
The mayor said she is unsure why she had not properly prepared for the fires and assured that internal and external investigations are taking place into every aspect of local officials’ responses to the wildfires.
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“I don’t know, I mean, I think that’s one of the things we need to look at,” Bass said. “So two, investigations are taking place. One internal to the city and that’s the fire commission because that’s mandated by the city charter. So the commission will hire an outside entity to examine everything, the pre-deployment, why were fire fighters sent home, all of that that should have taken place that didn’t and also [Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom] has contracted with the Fire Safety Research Institute which is a national institute that investigated what happened with the fires in Maui. So everything that happened, including that, needs to be examined.”
“But I will tell you that I felt absolutely terrible about not being here for my city and not being here for my family who was impacted by the fires as well,” the mayor continued. “So when I say it was a mistake, absolutely, the idea that I was not present was very painful.”
Bass initially provided no answer on her overseas trip in early January when Sky News reporter David Blevins confronted her on whether she owes an apology to her constituents. During her mayoral campaign in Oct. 2021, she insisted in an interview with The New York Times that she would not travel abroad while in office.
The wildfires led to 29 deaths and the destruction of over 16,000 homes, causing many residents to lose all of their possessions, according to city data. The consumed many neighborhoods and communities, leaving only ruins and chimneys behind.
Bass approved of a budget for the city in June that included a $17.6 million in cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s (LAFD) budget, after she had initially pushed for a $23 million cut — though the city set aside unappropriated funds which ultimately led the fire department to receive $53 million more than last year. LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley warned Bass in December that the $7 million cut to the fire department has “severely limited” the organization’s ability to train and properly prepare for “large-scale emergencies.”
Several fire hydrants ran dry as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and fire department officials attempted to combat the flames that destroyed thousands of homes, neighborhoods and communities in the area. An analysis from OpenTheBooks, a government transparency organization, found that Los Angeles lacked the budget to sufficiently fund fire hydrants across the area despite LADWP officials receiving substantial taxpayer-funded salaries.
Crowley staunchly supported diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and an internal “racial equity plan,” which states that the agency is a stronger organization for focusing on the physical characteristics of its personnel.
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