For more than two months, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faced criticism of the Palisades fire – when she was outbreak, she was not in the country and once she returned, her public appearance was swaying and not even keeping her text messages.
Pro-low troops have been struggling to back down in recent days, believing she has been attacked by “rich oligarchs” including real estate developers Rick Caruso and Nicole Shanahan, who are helping to raise a campaign to recall her.
Beth’s supporters portray the attack as highly partisan, amplified by tough media outlets, at least for some, stemming from racism. These arguments provide a potential preview of Bass’ political case
City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson Chief of Staff Joanne Kim said in a recent email to bass supporters that the right-wing billionaire “weaponized” the mayor’s “forgetting” campaign in a Jan. 7 fire. Kim’s 2022 campaign for bass was targeting not only Caruso but also billionaire Elon Musk, who posted Dickibooth on social media against the mayor.
“It’s their strategy: exploitation of tragedy, distort reality, split the people. We won’t let them,” King wrote in her 1,000-word email. “I ask you to use every communication platform, you have to turn off the lies and stand with us with the mayor.”
Vahid Khorsand, chairman of the city’s public works committee, recursing Kim’s email to his followers, repeatedly warning that the billionaire is “appointing La” for senior bass in Los Angeles. area.
“That’s why rights have to follow her. That’s why they use any means that can attack her like this storm. They know Karen puts people first,” he wrote.
The community coalition staff, the South La nonprofit founded by Bass and others 35 years ago, also ranks behind the mayor, testifying at the City Hall and posting on social media in recent weeks.
Bass’ 2026 re-election strategist Doug Herman said Angelenos should not be surprised when he saw the mayor’s closest allies rallied behind her when facing a recall. He said the mayor’s team did not ask King, Hallsan or others to advocate on her behalf, nor to work with them.
“These are her strongest supporters. They respond in the strongest way. I don’t think it’s unusual,” Herman said. “They are talking about the things that plagued them with First Amendment rights.”
Calls for mayoral allies follow the toughest two months of her political career, including six years in the state legislature (including two as presidents of parliament), and have more than a dozen in Congress.
Bass has been sensation in recent weeks for evicting Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, who was publicly stated by Firefighters Union that her department was seriously underfunded. The mayor also received severe criticism for arranging three months of $500,000 wildfires to restore the tsar’s salary, which was abandoned after the riot.
Others asserted that the bass assistant was reluctant to remind her of her predictions about the potentially dangerous Santa Ana wind before she performed a diplomatic mission to Ghana.
Beth responded to criticism by highlighting the progress the city has made since the disaster. Two months after the fire, the water returned to Palisades, much faster than the paradise community after the 2018 camp fire. Remove toxic debris in burning areas (the responsibility of the federal government rather than city agencies) is also faster than originally expected.
The defenders of the bass took a more mean approach, saying she was wrongly accused of wildfires attributed to climate change.
Kim’s email from karenbass.com was an account that she provided to her as she was working on the 2022 campaign in Bass, and he said Caruso wasted no time to scapegoat the mayor, “unveiled something that looked like a campaign ad” when launching Palisades shooting.
Caruso dismissed criticism after his family lost two homes in the Palisades fire in 2022.
“The leadership that Angelenos wants and deserves will rebuild the community and bring them home instead of more political spin and conversation points,” Caruso spokesman Eric Koch said in a statement. “Rick Caruso focuses only on the results, not more excuses, delays and price cuts.”
Fernando Guerra, who heads the Los Angeles Research Center at Loyola Marymount University, said it makes sense for mayor supporters to focus on billionaires. Lula said many Democrats in Los Angeles retreated from the decisions made by President Trump and senior adviser Musk.
“If I were a political consultant,” Gla said, advising Beth and her supporters, “I would definitely say, use the term billionaire and attack billionaires.”
The mayor’s allies have become increasingly outspoken in recent weeks, primarily in response to two events: Crowley’s sack and subsequent efforts to restore her work, and the launch of a recall work.
King advises Bath’s supporters to draw inspiration from a seven-minute Instagram video posted last month by Community Alliance President and CEO Alberto Retana.
Retana told his followers that those who contributed to the climate crisis — fossil fuel companies, companies and 1% — were responsible for the devastating fires this year, not the bass. He said Trump and his allies created a narrative around diversity, equity and inclusion that is now being used to hit the bass.
“It may be bad for many people, but I know she was attacked because she is a black woman,” he said in the video.
Gerald Sirotnak, a strategist at the recall work, called the assertion an “insult to Angelenos’ diverse coalition, who felt abandoned by this administration.”
“This recall has nothing to do with identity, it’s about the outcome,” he said in an email. “The results under the bass are disastrous.”
Sirotnak said the figures leading the recall were neither billionaires nor right-wing extremists, but families who lost their homes due to Palisades firefighting and business owners facing widespread crimes.
On Monday, the team provided a notice of recall intentions for the bass, believing she had corrected wildfires, public safety and other issues. A few days ago, the group released a campaign video focusing on the Palisade fire.
The video features clips from Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, who said he felt it was a mistake for newspapers to recognize Bass in 2022. Soon-Shiong told The Times that he was not involved in the recall work and did not know that the recall movement was using clips of the editing, which was in the “mid-term interview in the meeting in the morning.”
The mayor’s supporters also mobilized a hearing from the former fire chief, telling council members that the resumption of her movement was part of a larger attack on Bass’ leadership.
“Let’s call it what this is,” said Siris Barrios, one of nearly twelve woofers. “It’s an attack on her authority, decision-making, and we don’t ignore the obvious ones – she’s a black woman in power.”
Firefighters took a very different stance, saying Crowley was a fact, spreading news about the financial struggles in the fire department.
Several auxiliary bass speakers are current or former community coalition staffers, which has extensive connections with City Hall.
Two senior aides from Bath have served on the board of the Community Alliance, while the other two work directly on the group. The mayor’s office is responsible for the city’s reduction and youth development program, which has signed a three-year, $3.4 million contract with the Community Alliance.
Harris-Dawson is perhaps Bass’ closest ally on the council, taking charge of the Community League before winning it in 2015. Kim worked with the group for about twenty years before joining Harris-Dawson’s office.
King told The Times that she wrote an email because she was frustrated by “false information” and right-wing attacks. She said she should use her email address instead of the old karenbass.com account.
In an email, Kim accused critics of attacking the bass in the Palisades fire while keeping quiet against Altadena’s political leadership, a neighborhood outside Los Angeles where the Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes.
Altadena is represented by LA County Superintendent Kathryn Barger, a white and registered Republican.
“When they attacked Mayor Beth, they remained silent about the Eaton fire, which destroyed a less wealthy community under the supervision of a white Republican Los Angeles County supervisor,” King wrote.
Bagger has been a vocal defender for Bass, telling reporters that the mayor was “very involved” in the wildfire emergency when he returned from overseas. When asked about King’s email, she said in a statement that she would resume with all elected officials “regardless of the party.”
“People want results, not politically blame games,” Bagh said.
