By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Contributing Columnist
Let me get this straight. A fire official publicly stated that if Los Angeles had had tens of thousands more firefighters it would not have prevented the current fire. A top union official in the L.A. Fire Department flatly declared that he did not fault Mayor Karen Bass’s relatively minute budget cuts for the destructive blazes. He noted that the wildfires were caused by the dryness, weather, winds and incendiary conditions.
Numerous budget experts noted that Bass’ much reviled budget cut for the fire department was not only tiny but was targeted at excessive, unnecessary, administrative costs that had absolutely nothing to do with the provision of vital services.
Then there was this fact. The overall budget for the Los Angeles City Fire Department has steadily risen over the past three years. It now stands close to nearly $1 billion. That figure makes the city’s fire department budget one of the biggest among the nation’s big city fire departments.
Yet despite citing fact after fact about the L.A. Fire Department’s budget, services and operations, Bass still has been plopped squarely on the political hot seat. To be even more blunt, she is practically — to hear some of her loud foes tell it — the sole cause of Los Angeles burning.
It’s absurd, ridiculous and downright cockamamie. However, thousands have bought into the lies, distortions and blatant disinformation about Bass and the fire department. They have penned their signatures on a petition demanding her immediate resignation.
Mind you, the petition is not the usual pro forma recall of a public official launched when citizens are furious with an elected official about one or another alleged political sins. The petition leaps over that and simply demands she stand down with no opportunity to defend, explain or provide context for the budget issue with the fire department.
Point one of the petition boldly states: 1. The immediate resignation of Mayor Karen Bass due to her failure to lead during this unprecedented crisis.
OK but it’s point two in the petition that is not only puzzling but blatantly contradicts point one. It reads: 2. A full, transparent investigation into the failures in disaster preparedness, response, and resource allocation that left our city vulnerable.
The petition sponsors are demanding Bass’s resignation. Yet at the same time they’re demanding a “transparent investigation” and an explanation of “the resource allocation.” How? If the official, Bass in this case, has already been asked to resign?
The whole thing smacks less of a move by concerned, enraged and truly informed citizens about an issue than the moldy taint of politics, dirty politics at that. It’s no secret that more than one influential, financially well-heeled individual has long chomped to grab the top spot at City Hall.
Bass’s alleged big fumble on the fire department budget gives them the made in heaven excuse they needed to hammer her as an alleged, incompetent, self-serving public official.
She has an even greater vulnerability to her detractors. She is an African American and she is a woman. The dirty politics lurking just beneath the resignation demands came into play with a vengeance when some bloggers and dubious press out outlets dredged up the criticism that Bass some years back made of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for jumping ship in Texas when the floods hit.
One even dug even deeper into the slander pot and cited Bass’ alleged allegiance with left radicals back in the day. And of course there was the inevitable, perennial finger pointing at her on the city’s homeless crisis.
None of this had absolutely anything to do with the wildfire crisis. It was simply standard cheap shot smears and tainting. Bass has repeatedly made clear that the city will continue to provide full funding and every conceivable resource available to ensure that the department can quickly and effectively meet any crisis, including and beyond firefighting and emergency services.
The hard truth is that the dollars that many are carping loudly about for the fire department are and have always been there to provide those services to the city.
L.A. has experienced an unprecedented fire holocaust. A holocaust that has many causes. One of which is not the alleged incompetence and failure of one individual.
The need now is to go forward with the rebuilding, reconstruction, protection of lost homes and businesses, and providing maximum aid and assistance to the victims. It will take a massive funding and relief effort by the state and federal officials. It will not take finger pointing, playing the rotten blame game and scapegoating one individual for the colossal disaster.
The message: Mayor Bass stay strong, stay the course, and ignore the boo birds and haters. The city needs you, your talent and superb political skills, leadership and resource mustering to rebuild L.A.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His latest book is Day 1 The Trump Reign (Middle Passage Press). He also is the host of the weekly The Hutchinson Report Facebook Livestreamed.
