Los Angeles is in crisis as deadly wildfires have torn through the area and forced thousands of people to leave their homes. But while residents are doing their best to deal with the impact of the devastating fires intensified by the Santa Ana winds, some critics are putting the blame squarely at the feet of Karen Bass, the city’s mayor.
LA developer Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass in the city’s 2022 mayoral election, called into the Los Angeles Fox affiliate to express his disappointment in Bass’ handling of city resources, including cutting the fire department’s budget, which he says has led to a depletion of the supply of water in the city’s fire hydrants.
“It’s beyond anything I think any of us could have ever imagined,” he said. “But what is most concerning to me is that our first responders and our firefighters who are trying to battle this...there’s no water coming out of the fire hydrants. This is an absolute mismanagement of the city.”
He also used the opportunity to criticize her for being in Ghana as part of a US delegation attending the inauguration of incoming President John Dramani Mahama while her city was in flames.
“And I’ve got to be very honest, we’ve got a mayor that’s out of the country and we’ve got a city that’s burning and there’s no resources to put out fires,” he added. “I think you should start asking … Why don’t you call the mayor, who is out of the country, and ask her? Get an answer from her.”
According to KTLA, the mayor stayed up to date on the status of the fires while she was away and was traveling back to Los Angeles on the morning of January 8.
“I want to assure the community and the city our mayor has been actively engaged 100% of the time the entire last 24 hours throughout this unfortunate event and crisis,” said the Mayor’s Deputy Chief of Staff Celine Cordero.
Billionaire CEO and advisor to President-elect Donald Trump Elon Musk called Mayor Bass “utterly incompetent” in a January 8 post on X.
Spencer Hakimian, founder of Tolou Capital Management, responded to a video post of the devastation Musk left on X with a call for the mayor to resign.
For her part, Mayor Bass has declared a state of emergency in the area and has been updating residents on the city’s efforts to contain the fires in a series of posts on X.