Editor note: This article was previously inadvertently tagged as being "news" when it should have been tagged under our "editorial" section. The opinions of writers in our editorials and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of our publication or all writers. We apologize for any confusion this mistake might have caused.
Additionally, this article mistakenly included information about Mayor Bass based on a confusing post from the page she now uses on Facebook here. Those references have since been removed and we again apologize for any confusion resulting from this.
LOS ANGELES, CA- The mayor of California’s largest city has more problems than just being missing in action as parts of her city burned to the ground earlier this month. Karen Bass was selected as the city’s mayor based on promises to tackle homelessness and promote DEI, neither of which unfortunately helped battle the wildfires decimating LA. As The New York Post reports, Bass never promised to do one thing where she should have taken the lead of President-elect Trump–drain the city’s swamp.
The Post reports that Bass is in further trouble after several scandals have arisen during her term, in addition to her complete mismanagement of the city's emergency services. Part of that mismanagement includes defunding the Los Angeles Fire Department by $17 million, one of the many scandals plaguing Bass and LA.
The scandals include the FBI raiding the home of the deputy mayor after a bomb threat was made against city hall, her endorsement of a former city councilor over hush money payments for Congress, hiring an associate to head LA’s water and power department at a salary of $750,000 annually, and several city council members who stand accused of embezzlement, perjury, racketeering, tax evasion and accepting bribes.
Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit public interest group, says that “corruption is ingrained in Los Angeles.”
“It’s the story of ‘Chinatown,’ and it likely led to the intensity of the fires.
Chinatown, a 1974 movie, stars Jack Nicholson as a private detective who exposes the corruption in the LA public utility that controls water flow into the city. Sounds familiar.
The Post describes the 2025 version of the LADWP as a “sprawling democracy in need of serious reform,” which is largely ignored because the utility brings in billions of dollars in taxpayer money to the city’s government,” Court told The Post.
“It’s a sacred cow and a slush fund for the city, with a serious lack of accountability,” he said.
Bass and the city council control the utility. Last year, Bass hired a crony and fellow progressive, Janisse Quinones at a salary of $750,000 to manage the utility. Quinones claimed she would right “the wrongs that we’ve done in the past from an infrastructure perspective.” From all appearances, she is not off to a good start. Critics from the LA Fire Department have slammed Quinones for failure to fix broken fire hydrants and for allowing a reservoir that would have fed the hydrants that did work to remain dry for “repairs.”
Meanwhile, Consumer Watchdog and the Los Angeles Times filed a lawsuit in federal court last year to unseal warrants in an extortion scheme involving the LA City Attorney’s Office and the DWP.
The unsealed documents, numbering 1,400 pages, were revealing and showed that the FBI believed former city attorney Mike Feuer, the city’s top lawyer, lied to investigators when he denied knowledge of a hush money payment to hide a litigation scandal in his office, The Post said.
Feuer called the claims “absurd” and was never prosecuted. In 2022, he initially opposed Bass in the city’s mayoral race but dropped out and endorsed her. In return, Bass endorsed Feuer for his ill-fated congressional run for Congress in 2023, calling him “a longtime colleague and friend.”
“We have a pay-to-play culture in Los Angeles,” said Susan Shelley, who sits on the editorial board of the Southern California New Group who is a columnist and vice president of communications for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a non-profit. “It’s legalized corruption,” she said.
Shelley said politicians can request “behested payments” from individuals and companies with business before the city.
“This would be called ‘extortion’ elsewhere,” Shelley said while noting that companies such as AT&T and Coca-Cola, among others, had donated $1.8 million to the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles in behested payments.
Bass has been slammed for being out of the country in Ghana as wildfires ravaged the city. This week, photos showed Bass attending a cocktail party as her city burned. Bass has refused to answer questions about her absence from the city.
The aforementioned is the least of the city’s problems in some ways. In February 2023, Bass chose Deputy Mayor Brian Williams to oversee the city’s police and fire departments, the Port of Los Angeles Police, the Los Angeles World Airport Police at LAX, and the city’s Emergency Management Department.
Last September, Williams allegedly called in a bomb threat against city hall. Still, due to his relationship with the LAPD, the matter is being investigated by the FBI, who raided his home in December. He has since been placed on administrative leave. He has not yet been charged, and his attorney said he “strongly maintains his innocence.”
In June 2023, City Councilmember Curren Price Jr. was charged with embezzlement and perjury in a “pay-to-play” scheme. He was charged with receiving over $150,000 from developers in exchange for voting to approve their projects. He also had the city pay for his girlfriend’s medical benefits despite being married to another woman.
“This alleged conduct undermines the integrity of our government and erodes the public’s trust in our elected officials,” former LA District Attorney George Gascon said in 2023. Curren has disputed the charges.
Also in 2023, former City Councilmember Jose Huizar pleaded guilty to racketeering and tax evasion, while another city politician, former LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, was sentenced to federal prison in connection with a bribery scheme involving seeking favors from a USC dean in exchange for political favors.
That case involved USC’s former dean of Social Work, Marilyn Flynn, who admitted to laundering $100,000 in scholarship money to Ridley-Thomas’ son in exchange for helping to secure a lucrative County health contract with the school. That case is under appeal.
Bass herself received a USC scholarship from Flynn in 2011 in her first year in Congress; however, she has refused requests for comment from The Post. She was working on a master’s degree in social work, which she completed in 2015. Flynn was hoping to use Bass to secure federal funding for the school.
While Bass’ name is redacted from court filings, the Los Angeles Times independently confirmed her identity. Prosecutors claim Bass is not accused of wrongdoing in the case.
That doesn’t mean Bass is entirely in the clear. She sponsored a bill in Congress that would have expanded federal funding for USC and other private universities for social work “just as defendant Flynn wanted,” a court filing read. Bass was briefly considered as a possible running mate for Joe Biden in the 2020 election, a post that was eventually given to Kamala Harris.
Bass was also an unabashed supporter of Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter. Cullors was excoriated after the organization shook down businesses in the George Floyd era. She purchased three luxury properties and used expensive real estate. Bass defended Cullors on X.
“I stand with Patrisse Cullors against any and all well-funded, baseless smear attempts,” Bass wrote. “I’ve worked with Patrisse for years and am proud to continue to call on her for advice as she continues the fight to instill the notion in this country that Black Lives Matter.”
Comments
2025-01-22T00:30-0500 | Comment by: James
They have earned a ROPE or a BULLET ........