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'I would never quit on my city,' says mayor amid recall effort over Palisades Fire
Crews remove 50% of hazardous materials from fire areas
By City News Service
joet@beaconmedianews.com
F
acing mounting criticism and a recall effort Wednesday over her handling to the Palisades Fire, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared, "I would never quit on my city." The recall campaign is led by Nicole Shanahan, the former running mate of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. According to the recall website, the effort is also supported by some Palisades residents. On Tuesday, during an interview with KNX News, the mayor reaffirmed she is "here now, and I'm running." "I would never quit on my city. This is where I was born and raised," Bass told the radio station. "Did I know that it was a difficult job? Absolutely. Am I ready for the job? Most definitely." The mayor, who is up for reelection in 2026, has already launched her campaign. "I mean, anybody that runs for office — if you're not emotionally ready to accept that — then you're in the wrong business," Bass told KNX. The recall effort will require 330,000 ballot signatures to progress, which will need to be obtained within a span of four months. Douglas Herman, a political strategist for Bass'
Karen Bass speaks at her mayoral campaign kickoff event in 2021. | Photo courtesy of Karen Bass for Mayor/Flickr (PDM 1.0)
campaign, told City News Service on March 4, that the recall committee's filing was "nothing more than another extreme right-wing political stunt designed to divide Los Angeles when we need to move forward." He added that spending millions of dollars on a recall election should be better spent on rebuilding. Since the wildfires in January, Bass has faced growing criticism over her response and leadership. The Palisades fire broke out on Jan. 7, and residents have faulted her for being out of the country in its early days. Concerns have also mounted over fire hydrant issues, low
water pressure in the Palisades and limited resources within the Fire Department. Former Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, which is the union representing LA firefighters, and LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia highlighted that the fire department's operational budget was reduced by $17 million in the fiscal year 2024-25 adopted budget. Bass and City Council members have refuted that figure, noting the LAFD received an increase in $50 million due to a new contract with the firefighters union. The Los Angeles Times has also reported on tensions
between Bass, her recovery czar Steve Soboroff and county leaders. According to a survey from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The LA Times, slightly over 40% of registered voters in the city thought Bass did a "poor or very poor job in responding to the fires," while another 19% of respondents thought her response was "excellent or good." A little more than 1 in 5 city residents, or about 22%, thought she was doing a fair job, and the remainder had no opinion. "The mayor is focused on recovery, which right now is months ahead of expectations, and she is going to continue pushing it forward," Zach Seidl, spokesman for Bass, said in response to the poll. Bass entered office in 2022 after defeating her opponent, billionaire Rick Caruso. She's the first woman and second Black mayor of Los Angeles. In recent weeks, Caruso has made headlines with the launch of Steadfast LA, a private-sector-led recovery effort, sparking speculation about a possible mayoral run. He has yet to make an official announcement.
By Joe Taglieri
A crew removes hazardous materials from the Eaton Fire Zone. | Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
T
he U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has removed hazardous waste from half of the 4,499 properties deferred to it by the Environmental Protection Agency during Phase 1 of the household hazardous materials removal operation from the deadly January wildfires, officials said Monday. The 50% benchmark comes seven days after the U.S. EPA's deadline for completing Phase 1 work in wildfireaffected parts of Altadena, Pasadena, Pacific Palisades and Malibu. The EPA initially conducted HHM removal on approximately 9,000 properties damaged in the Eaton and Palisades fires, but some sites posed safety risks such as structurally compromised buildings, unstable terrain or limited access. EPA officials deferred those properties to the Corps of Engineers to implement safety measures before removal could start. As of Saturday, the corps had finished removing hazardous materials from 2,269 properties. "We know how much these families and communities have already been through, and we are working with a sense See Hazardous materials Page 31
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