She Cut the Fire Department by $17,500,000.
Then She Flew to Ghana. Then the Hydrants Ran Dry. 31 People Died.
This Is Karen Bass’s Record as Mayor of Los Angeles.
On January 4, 2025 — the day after the National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for Los Angeles — Mayor Karen Bass (D)boarded a plane to Accra, Ghana for the inauguration of Ghana’s new president. Three days later, at 10:30 a.m. on January 7, the Palisades Fire ignited. She was 7,800 miles away. She returned January 8 to a city of 1,000+ burned structures, 70,000+ evacuated residents, and 31 people who would die in the fires.
The fires were not an act of God. They were the foreseeable consequence of documented, specific decisions Bass made as mayor. The fire chief she later fired — Chief Kristin Crowley— had warned her in writing on December 4, 2024 that the LAFD budget cut endangered lives. Bass signed that cut anyway. Two hundred hydrants ran dry in Pacific Palisades. The Santa Ynez Reservoir, with 117 million gallons of capacity, sat empty — its cover had been damaged and was never repaired under Bass’s watch.
That is not where the record ends. It is where it starts. From the Inside Safe homelessness program that spent $67,000,000to permanently house 255 people, to the electioneering complaint filed against her own campaign six days before the June 2 primary, Bass’s tenure is a documented record of mismanagement, deflection, and failure. Every claim in this page traces to a primary source. The voters decide on June 2, 2026.
- 31People killed — Palisades + Eaton firesJanuary 2025 wildfires killed 31 people, destroyed 16,000+ structures — including 7,000 Palisades homes alone. Bass was in Ghana. She had cut the LAFD budget eight months earlier.
- $17,500,000LAFD budget cut — signed by Bass May-June 2024Fire Chief Kristin Crowley warned Bass in writing December 4, 2024 that the cut endangered the department's ability to respond. Bass signed the cut anyway. Bass has since raised $17.5M for her own reelection campaign — the same dollar amount.
- 200+Hydrants that ran dry in Pacific PalisadesThe Santa Ynez Reservoir — 117 million gallons of capacity — sat empty. The cover was damaged and never repaired under Bass. Firefighters arrived to dead hydrants while homes burned.
- ~15%Palisades homes permitted — 10 months laterOf ~7,000 destroyed Palisades homes, approximately 1,070 had received rebuild permits as of November 2025. Only ~340 were in active construction. Trump on Truth Social: 'she hasn't even gotten the permits for people rebuilding their homes.'
- $262,745Cost per person permanently housed — Inside SafeBass's signature $67M homelessness program placed only 255 people in permanent housing in its first year, per LAmag. Approximately 40% returned to unsheltered homelessness. A court-ordered Alvarez & Marsal audit found '$2.3 billion reviewed, fragmented oversight and missing financial data' across three LA homelessness programs.
- 30%Bass polling — needs 50% to avoid runoffEmerson College / Inside California Politics poll (May 9-10, 2026): Bass 30%, Pratt 22%, Raman (D) 19%, undecided 16%. Tavern Research (May 1-4): Bass 22%, Pratt 18%. A mayor who cannot clear 50% in a Democrat-dominated city has lost the basic trust of her electorate.
Bass departed for Ghana on January 4, 2025 — one day after the National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for the Los Angeles area. The Palisades Fire started at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time on January 7, 2025. Bass was attending the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Mahama when it started. She returned to Los Angeles on January 8 — by which point over 1,000 structures had already burned and 70,000 residents had been evacuated.
She later said she was in Ghana “doing business for the city.” No other major American city mayor traveled internationally during an active fire weather watch in January 2025. Bass subsequently withdrew from a May 13, 2026 wildfire accountability forum she had confirmed — organized by the League of Women Voters and the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA. She did not explain her withdrawal.
May-June 2024: Bass signs a $17,500,000 LAFD budget cut. She would later raise $17,500,000 in contributions for her June 2026 reelection campaign — the same dollar amount she stripped from the fire department.
December 4, 2024: LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley warns Bass in writing that the budget cut endangers the department’s ability to respond to major fires. Bass does not reverse the cut.
January 7, 2025: Palisades Fire ignites. LAFD arrives to ~200 dry hydrants in Pacific Palisades. The Santa Ynez Reservoir — 117 million gallons of capacity — is empty. Cover was damaged, never repaired under Bass’s watch.
February 21, 2025: Bass fires Chief Crowley. Crowley files a retaliation lawsuit, alleging “a campaign of retaliation” for her public criticism of the budget decisions.
February 4, 2026: The LA Times reports Bass directed alterations to the LAFD after-action report. Bass’s office denies the allegation.
May 7, 2026: California Court of Appeals denies Bass + Gov. Newsom’s (D-CA) writ — Palisades Fire victims’ lawsuit moves to discovery, including Bass’s deleted texts.
“My fire department budget cut was necessitated by federal funding reductions. I have been transparent about it.”
Karen Bass (D) · May 2026 debate — on the LAFD budget cut that predated the Palisades Fire
My house burned down. My neighbors' houses burned down. Mayor Bass was in Ghana. She had cut the fire department's budget. The hydrants were dry. If you accept this as normal, vote Bass. If you believe Los Angeles deserves better, vote June 2 — vote Pratt.
Bass’s signature homelessness initiative “Inside Safe” spent approximately $67,000,000 in its first year and placed 255 people in permanent housing, per LAmag reporting. That is $262,745 per person permanently housed. Approximately 40% of those placed returned to unsheltered homelessness within months. Los Angeles still has more than 40,000 homeless residents.
A court-ordered Alvarez & Marsal audit — costing $2,800,000 to conduct — traced $2,300,000,000 across three Los Angeles homelessness programs and found “fragmented oversight and missing or unreliable financial data.” LAHSA issued $50,800,000 in Measure H advances to providers without repayment agreements; only $2,500,000 has been recovered, with $8,000,000 owed by providers who no longer exist. City Controller Kenneth Mejia (D) launched the audit after a federal judge found the city had misled attorneys.
Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass — the mayor who was in GHANA when their city was burning down. They can't run the city, they can't run the state, they can't run the country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
On Sunday, May 24, 2026 — six days before the June 2 primary — Bass’s campaign filmed and posted a video showing the mayor near a Los Angeles County ballot drop box. On May 26, Spencer Pratt’s attorney Peter McNulty filed a formal electioneering complaint with LA City Clerk Patrice Lattimore, alleging Bass violated California Elections Code § 18370 — the statute that bars electioneering within 100 feet of a ballot drop box. An intentional violation is a misdemeanor.
Bass campaign spokesman Alex Stacksaid the drop-box segment was “200+ feet away” from a separate segment with campaign signs. The complaint is pending review. In a race where Bass needs to clear 50% to avoid a November runoff — and polls at 30% — this is the story of a mayor who has lost control of the narrative on every front six days before voters decide.
Emerson College / Inside California Politics (May 9-10, 2026, LA subsample n=350): Bass 30%, Pratt 22%, Raman (D) 19%, undecided 16%. Bass needs 50% to win outright and avoid a November runoff.
Tavern Research / Growth Machine Fund (May 1-4, 2026, n=531): Bass 22%, Pratt 18%, Raman 16%.
Fundraising (April 19-May 16 window): Pratt raised $2,720,000. Bass raised $283,000. Pratt outraised the incumbent 10-to-1 in the closing weeks of the campaign.
The United Firefighters of Los Angeles City (UFLAC Local 112) — the union Bass represents as mayor — pooled more than $1,000,000 of its members’ personal funds to put an LAFD sales-tax measure on the November 2026 ballot. They bypassed the mayor entirely because they do not trust her to fund the department.
LA Mayor Karen Bass polling at just 30% — needs 50% to avoid a November runoff. Spencer Pratt outraised her 10-to-1 in the April-May window ($2.72M vs $283K). Firefighters bypassed her entirely to fund their own ballot measure. Vote June 2, 2026.
Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass. The Mayor of Los Angeles, who was in Accra, Ghana when the fires started, is an embarrassment to her constituents.
Confirmed Trump Truth Social post on Karen Bass and the Palisades Fire response — January 2025. Sourced via multiple news outlets covering Trump's statements on the LA fires.
VERY SLOW PERMITTING disaster. Incompetent Mayor Karen Bass hasn't even gotten the permits for people rebuilding their homes after the record setting fire. The Federal Government will step in!
Confirmed Trump Truth Social post on the Palisades rebuild permit failure — December 2025. Sourced via multiple news outlets covering Trump's statements on the LA recovery.
Karen Bass cut the fire department by $17,500,000, ignored her fire chief’s written warning, flew to Accra, Ghana when a fire weather watch was issued, watched 31 people die and 16,000+ structures burn, fired the chief who told the truth, spent $67,000,000 to house 255 people, and now faces an electioneering complaint six days before her election. Every fact on this page traces to a primary source. Los Angeles votes June 2, 2026.