Los Angeles authorities lied about why residents had died and thousands of homes had been destroyed because the paint was dry, the rainfall was large, Santa Ana winds made sparks travel, and sparks flew from the mountains.
Los Angeles voters may do whatever it takes to remove ignorant rulers when they are done sweeping up the ashes, they insist, and for this lay alone, they should do this.
“]T] his is an absolutely exceptional function”, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a media conference on Wednesday. The water pressure dropped as a result of the overwhelming need to fight this extraordinary affair.” It has been many, many times since we’ve faced this powerful ]of] winds.
Bass regurgitated equivalent statements in a press conference Thursday, frequently blaming “unprecedented” and “historic” winds.
Unprecedented? Some L.A. leaders have been using that ruse. However, since the beginning of time, the laws of fire haven’t changed if you trust knowledge. When gas and wind are plentiful, fire spreads immediately.
Who could have foreseen such a hellscape? All. But mainly Bass, who last year squandered more than$ 17.5 million from the resources of the fire department. She was warned.
Los Angeles City Fire Chief Kristin Crowley sounded the alarm only last month, in a Dec. 4 letter to the Board of Fire Commissioners, in which she cautioned that the president’s strong budget cuts compromised the agency’s ability to maintain core activities. The overtime pay was cut by$ 7 million, among other things.
” These budgetary cuts have adversely affected the agency’s ability to maintain main operations such as … training, fire protection, and community schooling”, Crowley wrote. ” In add-on… the reduction]in extra hours ] has severely limited the Department’s ability to make for, teach for, and listen to large size emergencies, including wildfires, earthquakes, hazardous materials incidents, and massive public events”.
” Specific programs and tools such as Air Operations, Tactical EMS Products, Disaster Answer, and Community Emergency Response Teams… are now at danger of decreased effectiveness”, the letter added.
The Federalist obtained the record through a documents demand from The Federalist. According to it, budget cuts have impair the ability of the fire department to carry out “required clean clearance inspections,” which it describes as” essential for limiting fire hazards in high-hazard locations.” Budget and team cuts have also caused a reduction in home housing inspections, and coaching, according to the report.
Los Angeles people deserve better. They are rightfully outraged at the Bass budget reductions, her presence and silence when the fires started, her rely on DEI and skin color variety over health, and her shoulder-shrugging approach suggesting that, because the fires are “unprecedented” in their loss, they were unpreventable.
” Unprecedented” is an insult to the intelligence of every newly homeless, property-tax-paying citizen.
” Unprecedented” means there was no way to prepare for such fires, and that means there is no way Bass, who earns$ 269, 000 a year, can be called responsible, for what happened, O. K.?
No, not O. K. Bass should quit in disgrace, and if she does not, she is ripe for a recall election. Voters can support self-governance and oust a smarter, more qualified leader who concentrates on providing basic government services, such as fire safety.
Bass is one of the political elite members who has completely abandoned the mundane operations of municipal leadership. Smooth roads, regular trash pick-up, and trained and well-staffed emergency responders are the boring basics that matter most. Too many politicians and taxpayers ‘ money are diverted to pet issues. They ultimately lose$ 17 million to the fire department, but they still have the funds to purchase electric vehicles.
When the L. A. fires started, Bass was not even on the continent. She was in West Africa to witness the president of Ghana, John Mahama, inauguration. She was also reportedly scheduled to meet the country’s first female vice president, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.
This Africa trip was not what L. A. residents needed at this moment. It is not what they need, ever. Los Angeles’s ailing citizens shouldn’t be the ones who should pay for that self-indulgent trip.
After the smoke clears, will voters move to oust Bass, or forget her role in the destruction and let L. A. continue to ruin? If the latter, democracy is wasted in L. A.
Beth Brelje covers The Federalist’s elections coverage. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.
