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Mayor Karen Bass feels the burn after axing lesbian fire chief who criticized her leadership

February 22, 2025 | | Print Article

The growing backlash against embattled Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reached a crescendo Friday when she stunningly ousted her fire chief.

Bass fired Los Angeles Fire Department chief Kristin Crowley, a lesbian, on the basis that Crowley had failed in her duties prior to, during, and after the Palisades Fire that devastated the LA area last month.

“We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch,” Bass said in a statement.

“Furthermore, a necessary step to an investigation was the President of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after action report on the fires. The Chief refused. These require her removal,” she added.

After firing Crowley, Bass appointed a replacement in Crowley’s stead:

In separate remarks reported by ABC News, Bass further attacked Crowley for allegedly not calling her after the fires broke out.

“What I can tell you is that what has happened in the two-plus years I’ve been here, every time there was a weather emergency or even a hint of a weather emergency, the chief has called me directly,” she said. “She has my cellphone. She knows she can call me 24/7, and she briefed me, and then we would talk about what needed to happen next. That did not happen this time.”

“As the mayor of the city, the buck stops with me. I am in charge. However, the person in charge of the fire department, as I mentioned before, whenever there was a fire emergency, a weather emergency or a hint of a problem, I am contacted directly, and not just by Chief Crowley, but by any of the heads of the departments, as you know we have over 40 departments,” she added.

The firing prompted an outpouring of criticism, especially in light of Bass’s other recent faux pas. First it was discovered she’d been living it up in Ghana when the fires erupted. Then upon her return, she claimed it’ll take five long years to rebuild the Palisades. Then she announced an investigation into herself led by herself. And now this.

“Bass has the nerve to say: ‘the buck stops with me.’ Then immediately shows us the exact opposite is the case: the buck doesn’t even start with her, as she flails around blaming anyone and anything else for her catalog of failings,” Fox News‘ Steve Hilton wrote in a column.

Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, a Republican, also took Bass to task, accusing her in a tweet of having fired Crowley because the fire chief had called her out over her budget cuts to the fire department:

“It is very disappointing that Mayor Bass has decided to fire Chief Kristin Crowley,” he wrote. “Chief Crowley served Los Angeles well and spoke honestly about the severe and profoundly ill-conceived budget cuts the Bass administration made to the LAFD. That courage to speak the truth was brave, and I admire her.”

“Honesty in a high city official should not be a firing offense. The Mayor’s decision to ignore the warnings and leave the city was hers alone. This is a time for city leaders to take responsibility for their actions and their decisions. We need real leadership, not more blame passing,” he added.

The local firefighters union also lashed out at Bass over Crowley’s termination. Like Caruso, they too accused her of firing Crowley because she’d criticized her decision-making.

“On behalf of the firefighters I represent, I am here to say we are outraged at the termination of fire Chief Crowley, period,” United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112 president Freddy Escobar reportedly said. “In our opinion, Chief Crowley is being made a scapegoat, and she is being terminated for telling the truth.”

Then there’s local councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who said in a statement that she intends to use her power to “set the record straight” and try to overturn Crowley’s termination.

“On Jan. 7, she was praising the fire chief and her response,” Rodriguez told the Los Angeles Times. And then it appears, as the heat kicked up [over] her absence, she continued to try and attribute blame to someone else.”

Vivek Saxena
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