MEMO TO: THE HONORABLE (!) KAREN BASS
FR: STEVE LEBLANG, MEDIA CONSULTANT
RE: MEDIA TRAINING
Hi again, Madame Mayor.
Yes, again. Our paths have crossed before. When you were running for Diane Watson’s vacated Congressional seat in 2010 you and your handlers made it a point to knock on every door on my block in Culver City to personally lobby for our votes. At the time, I was a homeowner with what I suspect your team saw as a prestigious address, and your records probably showed that I had a prominent executive position–I guess that would have meant I was seen a potential donor. For the record, I lost that position a year earlier, a point I distinctly remember making just after you remarked about our beautifully manicured lawn and engaged my goggle-eyed wife with your own gardening exploits. Once I had corrected you, suddenly you remembered you needed to be somewhere else.
Still, you did get my vote then, as well as the next two times you ran for re-election, But right after you secured a third term, the house next door was torn down and a significantly larger home, with a de facto third story created via some fancy architectural moves despite explicit city laws limiting private residences to two stories, was erected. There was no front or back yard in what I later learned was called a “McMansion”. But I also learned that the couple that moved in had donated five figures to your campaign and that your office had signed off on this, all under the misguided belief that larger, fancier homes would immediately raise the value of the entire area. In my case, that home destroyed the amount of time that sunlight shone on and heated my pool and actually diminished the value of the property, not to mention it didn’t sit well with my wife. She got angry enough to write you personally and call your office several times to ask for your side of the story, but you never did return any of her calls. I suppose you were far too busy with your relentless robocall “town halls” that you instituted as you ran for your fourth term.
So maybe I know what and how you operate a bit more than the average constituent of your fair city who seem to be even more miffed at you now than I was then. That attracted even a publication as objective as TIME, whose Nik Popli recapped the events of your week succinctly in his Friday article:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing criticism for being out of the country when the devastating wildfires began to ravage the city on Tuesday night, destroying thousands of homes and displacing residents.
Bass had been in Ghana, attending the inauguration of the country’s new president as part of the U.S. delegation, where she also met with the country’s first female vice president. She returned to Los Angeles late Wednesday afternoon as the fires intensified.
Her absence amid the crisis raised questions about her leadership, placing her in the crosshairs of political critics who accuse her of neglecting her duties during a state of emergency. Among those leading the charge is tech billionaire and Donald Trump ally Elon Musk, who called Bass “utterly incompetent” and reposted posts that suggested she was a “DEI hire.” Rick Caruso, the billionaire developer and former Republican who narrowly lost to Democrat Bass in the 2022 mayoral race, also condemned her absence, claiming it contributed to a delayed response to the fires. “We have a mayor who seems to be more concerned about being at some party, wherever that is,” Caruso told the Los Angeles Times.
I know it must get under your skin when you have to endure this kind of disrespect, Madame Mayor. But then again, as Wikipedia recounts, you didn’t hold back your words and opinions about the person they have blind allegiance to the first time he ran a successful campaign:
On August 3, 2016, Bass launched a petition to have then-candidate Donald Trump psychologically evaluated, suggesting that he exhibited symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). The petition was signed by 37,218 supporters.[37] She did not attend President Trump’s inauguration after conducting a poll on Twitter.[38]
I promise you I’m not going to go down any path like your NPD suspect has regarding “beautiful, clean water” and “save the smelt”. That’s your buddy Gavin Newsom’s problem. But at least he’s been willing to say something about it, even trying to reach out to Fat Orange Jesus personally to give him the same look-see you got when you hustled back from our critical global ally just as the neighborhood you photo oped with him in on Wednesday had been incinerated. Nero would have been proud of your timing.
My issue is what you chose to say when you were given a golden opportunity to show some sort of leadership–or even concern–once your boots were back on our ground. CBS SACRAMENTO’s Steve Large and Richard Ramos reported on that:
Bass awkwardly remained silent when she was questioned by a reporter at Los Angeles International Airport about the devastating fires.
Video captured by Sky News shows a reporter repeatedly ignored by Bass for nearly two minutes. The mayor was in Africa when the Los Angeles County fires started.
“Do you owe citizens an apology for being absent while their homes were burning? Do you regret cutting the fire department by millions of dollars? Have you nothing to say today?” the reporter asked.
And THE HILL’s Dominick Mastrangelo had the audacity to continue to detail your non-response:
“Do you owe citizens an apology for being absent while their homes were burning? Do you regret cutting the fire department budget by millions of dollars, Madam Mayor?” (David) Blevins is heard asking her on the video.
Bass says nothing and stares ahead blankly.
“Have you nothing to say today? Have you absolutely nothing to say to the citizens today,” Blevins pressed her.
Bass, again, does not respond.
“Are you considering your position? Madam Mayor, have you absolutely nothing to say to the citizens today who are dealing with this disaster,” Blevins asks Bass, who continues to ignore him. “No apology for them? Do you think you should have been visiting Ghana while this was unfolding back home?”
And look, I know once you had the benefit of a script and advisers, you at least tried to feign some sort of empathy and concern. Large and Ramos subsequently detailed what you said when you finally chose to open your small mouth, Bass:
At a press conference when she returned to Los Angeles County, she did respond to questions. “What explains this lack of preparation and rapid response?” one reporter at the press conference asked Bass. Bass responded, in part, “Let me just say first and foremost, my number one focus — and I think of all of us here, with one voice — is that we have to protect lives.”
Mastrangelo added a bit more detail to support your theoretically reignited interest:
Bass, during a subsequent news conference on Wednesday, told reporters she has been in “constant contact” with fire officials and vowed to build back the area “stronger than ever.”
But funny, those fire officials don’t seem to have your back, either. As the ASSOCIATED PRESS’ Maryclaire Dale wrote yesterday:
The wildfire in Pacific Palisades that has burned more than 5,000 structures to become the most destructive in city history has put leaders on the defensive and led Crowley to engage in a public spat with Mayor Karen Bass over resources even as the battle against flames continues across the Los Angeles area.
Crowley publicly criticized the city Friday for budget cuts that she said have made it harder for firefighters to do their jobs at a time when they are seeing more calls. She also cast blame on the city for water running out Tuesday when about 20% of the hydrants tapped to fight the Palisades fire went dry.
“I’m not a politician, I’m a public servant. It’s my job as the fire chief for Los Angeles city fire dept to make sure our firefighters have exactly what they need to do their jobs,” she told CNN.
THE YOUNG TURKS’ Ana Kasparian took the trouble to produce Crowley’s actual memo, which should allay the beliefs of perhaps everyone except James Woods and Jesse Watters that Crowley is a DEI hire herself.
And Popli reminded us that yet again there are two sides to every story:
While the fires raged, questions also swirled around the city’s readiness for such an event. Some on social media, including the Los Angeles Times’ owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, accused Bass of cutting the fire department’s budget before the wildfires, but Politico reported Wednesday night that the city’s fire budget actually increased more than $50 million year-over-year compared to the last budget cycle as additional funding for the fire department was set aside in a separate fund during contract negotiations.
You could have referenced that in something resembling a response to Blevins, Madame Mayor. If you really wanted to show some huevos, you could have quipped “Elon Musk is not an elected official, no longer resides in California and is anything but qualified to offer an informed opinion on what I’m seeing. And since I’m not a federally elected official, he can’t even primary me”.
You might have even considered a tone slightly more concessionary. Heck, even Ted Cruz was able to offer this up when he was confronted for leaving town in the midst of tragedy, as THE TEXAS TRIBUNE’s Abby Livingston wrote back in 2021:
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz returned to Texas on Thursday and expressed regret for his trip to Cancún, Mexico after being chastised by both Republicans and Democrats for leaving his state as it buckles under the severe effects of a devastating winter storm.
“Look, it was obviously a mistake and in hindsight I wouldn’t have done it,” he said.
Even something like THAT might have worked a tad better than 90 seconds of catatonic reflection.
Instead, you seemed to take your lead from your friend and ally–the one who swore you in as mayor as you jointly celebrated your joy with cackling. When she was confronted by a friendly set of interviewers on THE VIEW as her whirlwind presidential campaign was coming to a come-to-Jesus moment, she “couldn’t think of a thing she would do differently” than her boss was doing–the one with the lowest approval rating of a sitting president since such measurements were instituted.
I know you had believed you were up for a key administrative position had she won. Maybe you forgot she didn’t. Maybe that’s why you decided it was far more important for you to schpotzier across the world to support the kind of people you seem to care far more about than the residents of the city you were elected to serve. You may have thought you would have been beyond this by now. So sorry that didn’t work out for you.
So may I humbly suggest, Madame Mayor, that you at least try to fake some sort of interest and perhaps a shred more respect for the press that is merely reflecting the degree of desperation and need your constituents are clamoring for. Say SOMETHING, Madame Mayor. Because devoid of that, your silence is deafening.
Respectfully submitted,
Steve Leblang
Until next time…