She Confirmed She'd Be There.
31 People Are Dead.
Now She's Not Coming.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) had confirmed she would appear at a televised mayoral accountability forum scheduled for Wednesday, May 13, 2026 — co-hosted by the League of Women Voters and the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State LA, to air on Fox 11. On Saturday, May 9, her campaign announced she was pulling out. The stated reason: a Sacramento trip to fight for wildfire recovery funding.
The withdrawal came four days after Bass took visible damage at a May 6 televised debate — where Spencer Pratt, a Palisades Fire survivor whose home burned, challenged her on wind speeds, LAFD response capacity, and the budget cuts she signed. CBS News subsequently fact-checked Bass's debate claims and sided with Pratt on the core wind-speed question. The online reaction to Bass's forum exit was swift: mockery, accusation, and the chicken emoji.
The May 13 forum was intended to let voters hear from mayoral candidates on the “extraordinary challenges” facing Los Angeles — starting with the January 2025 wildfires that killed 31 people and caused between $25 billion and $39 billion in insured losses. The forum proceeded without Bass. Three candidates appeared in her place: Councilwoman Nithya Raman, businessman Adam Miller, and community advocate Rae Huang. The June 2, 2026 primary is weeks away.
- 31people killedJanuary 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires — the worst wildfire disaster in Los Angeles history, burning 35,000+ acres and destroying 16,000+ structures
- $17.5MLAFD budget cutSigned by Bass months before the fires. Fire Chief Crowley warned in writing on Dec. 4, 2024 that cuts 'adversely affected the Department's ability to maintain core operations.'
- ~200hydrants ran dryFire hydrants and three 1-million-gallon water tanks in Pacific Palisades went dry during the fire as demand overwhelmed a system not designed for wildfire suppression
- Feb. 21Crowley firedBass demoted Fire Chief Kristin Crowley on February 21, 2026 — six weeks after the fires. Crowley filed a whistleblower lawsuit three days later alleging Bass retaliated against her to avoid accountability.
- May 7Court of Appeals rulingCalifornia Court of Appeals denied Bass and Newsom's attempt to block Palisades Fire victims' lawsuit — discovery is now open, including Bass's deleted texts from the fire's first hours.
The May 13 event was not a surprise ambush. The League of Women Voters and the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs formally invited all five major candidates for Los Angeles mayor. Bass accepted, signed forms confirming her attendance, and the forum's logistics were built around her participation. The other candidates adjusted their schedules accordingly.
Questions for the forum were being developed collaboratively by the Pat Brown Institute, the League of Women Voters, and Fox 11 — with a specific focus on the issues currently facing Los Angeles, wildfire recovery foremost among them. The co-organizers' statement after Bass pulled out was pointed:
“Mayor Bass's withdrawal is disappointing. Public forums such as this are a cornerstone of democratic accountability. These forums provide voters with the opportunity to hear candidates share their perspectives, respond to questions, and engage with one another on issues facing Los Angeles.”
League of Women Voters / Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs · Joint statement · May 9–10, 2026
The forum proceeded on May 13 without Bass. Three other candidates appeared: Councilwoman Nithya Raman, businessman Adam Miller, and community advocate Rae Huang. The incumbant mayor's podium stood empty — or was simply removed.
Bass's campaign spokesperson Alex Stack told Fox 11 the mayor would be unavailable because she would be in Sacramento. The official explanation:
“Mayor Bass will be in Sacramento that day fighting for funding for housing, homelessness, and Palisades Fire recovery, and will also discuss the city and state partnership on the Olympics and World Cup.”
Alex Stack, Bass campaign spokesperson · Fox 11 Los Angeles · May 9, 2026
The campaign also noted that Bass had debated her “top two opponents twice this week” — pointing to two earlier debates as evidence she was not avoiding scrutiny. Critics noted that those earlier debates occurred before the CBS News fact-check sided with Pratt on the wildfire wind-speed question on May 8 — one day before the forum withdrawal was announced.
The May 6 debate and its aftermath produced the most-watched wildfire accountability footage of the 2026 campaign. Spencer Pratt, whose Pacific Palisades home burned in the January 2025 fires, confronted Bass directly on the record.
The wildfire response debate also drew extensive national commentary — including from observers who noted Bass's visible difficulty answering direct questions about the budget cuts and her travel to Ghana.
The forum withdrawal prompted immediate reaction on X, with critics and rivals posting the chicken emoji — a recurring motif from Bass's earlier, widely mocked avoidance of questions at the Palisades Fire site. The backlash compressed a campaign narrative into a single viral symbol.
Karen Bass confirmed she would attend the League of Women Voters forum. Then CBS fact-checked her. Then she withdrew. The families of the 31 people who died in her fires deserve answers — not a Sacramento trip excuse. #LAMayor
BREAKING: Mayor Karen Bass has withdrawn from the May 13 mayoral forum co-hosted by the League of Women Voters and Pat Brown Institute. She had previously confirmed her attendance. The forum will proceed with other candidates. Full story: kfiam640.com
Crooked Karen Bass, the WORST Mayor in the history of Los Angeles, cut the Fire Department budget, went to GHANA when fires were starting, then tried to cover it up with a fake report. Now she runs away from accountability forums? The voters of LA need to WAKE UP!
The May 13 forum withdrawal is not an isolated incident. It is the latest in a documented sequence of accountability avoidance by Bass — each following a specific moment when the documented record of her decisions became politically dangerous.
1. The Budget Cut (May–June 2024). Bass signed a budget reducing the LAFD by $17.5 million — originally proposed at $23 million. Simultaneously, the city approved a $203 million firefighter union contract paid from the general fund. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley warned on December 4, 2024 that cuts “adversely affected the Department's ability to maintain core operations.” When asked about the cuts at a post-fire press conference, Bass said they did not impact LAFD's ability to handle the fires.
2. The Ghana Trip (January 4–8, 2025). Bass flew to Ghana on January 4, 2025 — the day after the National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for Los Angeles. By the time she landed in LA on January 8, 1,000 structures had burned and 70,000+ people were under evacuation orders. She later admitted: “It was a mistake to travel.”
3. The Altered Report (February 4, 2026). The Los Angeles Times reported that Bass directed changes to the LAFD's official after-action report to reduce the city's legal exposure. The final version reframed “failures” as “challenges,”deleted references to safety guideline violations, and replaced the original cover photo with a neutral LAFD seal. Bass's office denied interfering. Bass then fired Fire Chief Crowley on February 21, 2026. Crowley filed a whistleblower lawsuit three days later.
4. The Forum Withdrawal (May 9, 2026). Bass withdrew from the confirmed May 13 League of Women Voters / Pat Brown Institute forum four days after taking visible damage at a debate with wildfire survivor Spencer Pratt — and one day after CBS News fact-checked her wildfire claims and supported Pratt's account of the initial wind conditions.
The LAFD budget cut was not a rounding error. According to Fire Chief Crowley's December 4, 2024 memo to the Board of Fire Commissioners — a primary document Bass cannot dispute, since Crowley wrote it — the cuts specifically affected overtime staffing (“v-hours”), radio testing, pilot training for firefighting aircraft, and brush clearance inspections. Those are not administrative overhead items. They are exactly the operational capabilities needed to respond to a wildfire.
Overtime staffing cut: $7 million reduction in v-hours, affecting the ability to surge manpower for emergencies. A one-night wind event with 100+ mph gusts — exactly what hit the Palisades on January 7 — requires surge capacity the budget no longer funded.
Brush clearance inspections reduced:Budget cuts limited inspectors' ability to cite and compel homeowners and the city itself to clear dry vegetation near structures — the fuel load that turns a wildfire into a conflagration.
~200 hydrants ran dry: During the Palisades Fire, approximately 200 fire hydrants and three 1-million-gallon water storage tanks in the Pacific Palisades area went dry. The LADWP acknowledged the system was overwhelmed by record-high demand. Firefighting aircraft was also grounded by wind conditions.
City Controller Kenneth Mejia: Called the budget cuts “disgraceful,” stating the city had ignored repeated warnings from the fire chief.
Bass at the post-fire press conference:Said the budget cuts did not impact LAFD's ability to handle the fires. CBS News's subsequent fact-check of Bass's debate claims on May 8, 2026, sided with her challenger on the core operational questions.
Former LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and Mayor Bass on February 24, 2026 — three days after Bass demoted her. The lawsuit is specific about what it alleges Bass did.
False statements by Bass (alleged): The lawsuit alleges Bass publicly claimed she was unaware of the approaching weather event — contradicted by weather service records showing escalating warnings issued January 3–7, 2025, while Bass was in Ghana. Bass also allegedly claimed the LAFD budget was not cut and that LAFD resources would have supported 1,000 additional firefighters.
Retaliation:The lawsuit alleges Bass demoted Crowley on February 21, 2026 in retaliation for Crowley's public statements documenting that budget cuts had weakened the department's readiness and jeopardized public and firefighter safety.
Deliberate strategy (alleged):“These false statements were not mistakes but part of a deliberate strategy to divert scrutiny from Bass' decisions and to avoid accountability,” the lawsuit states.
Bass's response:The mayor's office called the lawsuit without merit.
Status: The lawsuit is pending. All allegations are subject to adjudication. Crowley is presumed to bear the burden of proof. Bass is presumed innocent of the specific allegations.
“These false statements were not mistakes but part of a deliberate strategy to divert scrutiny from Bass' decisions and to avoid accountability.”
Kristin Crowley whistleblower lawsuit against Mayor Karen Bass · filed February 24, 2026 · NBC Los Angeles, ABC7
On May 7, 2026 — two days before Bass withdrew from the May 13 forum — the California Court of Appeals handed Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA)a significant legal loss. The court denied writ petitions filed by both the State of California and the City of Los Angeles that sought to block the Palisades Fire victims' lawsuit from moving forward.
The court's denial means the lawsuit — which alleges government negligence in water supply, brush clearance, and infrastructure failures exacerbated the fire — can now proceed to discovery. That includes subpoenas for deleted text messages and other communications from Bass and Newsom from the period when the fires began. Neither official has yet produced those records.
Karen Bass (D) — Mayor of Los Angeles since December 2022. Signed the $17.5M LAFD budget cut. Was in Ghana when the Palisades Fire ignited. Fired Fire Chief Crowley after Crowley went public with the budget warnings. Accused of directing alterations to the after-action report (denied). Withdrew from the May 13 accountability forum after confirming attendance.
Gavin Newsom (D-CA)— Governor of California. Co-defendant with Bass in the Palisades Fire victims' lawsuit. The California Court of Appeals denied his effort to block discovery on May 7, 2026. Photos obtained by NewsNation contradict the state's claims about its involvement in the Palisades fire response.
Kristin Crowley (LAFD Chief, fired) — Warned Bass in writing on December 4, 2024 that budget cuts threatened core operations. Fired February 21, 2026. Filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging retaliation.
Ronnie Villanueva (Interim LAFD Chief)— Appointed by Bass after Crowley's removal. Oversaw the final version of the after-action report, which the Los Angeles Times reported had been edited to reduce the city's legal exposure.
Kenneth Mejia (City Controller, D) — Called the LAFD budget cuts “disgraceful” and stated that the city ignored repeated warnings from the fire chief.
The May 13 forum aired on Fox 11 as scheduled. Three of the five invited candidates appeared: Councilwoman Nithya Raman, businessman Adam Miller, and community advocate Rae Huang. Spencer Pratt, who had rattled Bass at the May 6 debate, was not listed among the three who appeared.
For voters still weighing their choice ahead of the June 2, 2026 primary, the question is straightforward: if a candidate who has been mayor of Los Angeles for nearly four years will not stand at a televised forum and answer questions about the deadliest wildfire in city history — questions posed by the League of Women Voters and moderated by a local television station — what does that tell you about what she would do with another term?
Karen Bass (D) cut $17.5 million from the LAFD budget. The fire chief warned her in writing. She was in Ghana when the fires started. 31 people died. She fired the chief who warned her. She allegedly altered the after-action report. She lost a court appeal that now exposes her deleted texts to discovery. And when the League of Women Voters organized a televised accountability forum specifically to let voters ask questions about all of this — she confirmed her attendance, then pulled out four days after a debate that did not go well. The forum proceeded without her. The primary is June 2.