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Since becoming the first African American woman and second African American mayor of Los Angeles in 2022, Karen Bass, 71, has done her absolute best to elevate the city. She has decreased violent crimes and homicides. She also instituted solutions to battle the homelessness crisis, including the construction of new housing projects and the creation of a program called Inside Safe that works to get people out of street encampments and into transitional housing. She has also secured millions of dollars in funding from federal and state governments to combat climate change. But perhaps the biggest moment of her first term as mayor was having the Olympic flag handed to her by the Paris Olympics delegation at the end of the 2024 Summer Olympics, signifying that Los Angeles would be the next host of the Olympic games in 2028.