LA Mayor Karen Bass Heavily Criticized for Delayed Return From Trip to Ghana with Historic Wildfires Spreading

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass received heavy criticism Tuesday and Wednesday for not returning immediately from an overseas trip to Ghana in Western Africa to help take charge of the response to multiple wildfires. She instead coordinated efforts in part from Africa.

In only the past few days, multiple wildfires have exploded in growth across Southern California, with their growth being fueled by high winds and dry conditions. The largest of the fires, the Palisades Fire, is currently at over 11,000 acres and affecting the Pacific Palisades area in western Los Angeles, as well as the the city of Malibu, and many areas in the Santa Monica mountains. As of Wednesday afternoon, around 37,000 people have evacuated, with about 1,000 structures destroyed and one reported death. Some historic buildings, such as the Getty Villa, are also currently being threatened.

The other large fire, the Eaton Fire, isn’t in Los Angeles Proper, but is also currently using resources from both Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. The Eaton Fire is currently at just over 10,000 acres and affecting Pasadena, Altadena, Glendale, and other areas alongside the San Gabriel Mountains. While only about 100 structures have been destroyed so far, it has caused 50,000 people to be evacuated and has already caused 2 deaths. Historic buildings, such as the famed Rose Bowl, are also now situated within the warning zone.

In addition other fires within Los Angeles and LA County are currently raging, including the 500 acre Hurst fire in the Sylmar area. Currently, according to Cal Fire, every fire is at 0% containment and is expected to have little containment until the high speed Santa Ana winds calm down later on Wednesday.

While Cal Fire, state officials, local leaders, and fire fighters from around SoCal have been working non-stop to stop the blaze, one notable name has been absent – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Even after the hugely destructive Palisades Fire was threatening more and more of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Bass stayed in Accra, Ghana, where she has been part of the U.S. delegation attending the inauguration of Ghana President John Mahama. While she did declare a state of emergency on Tuesday from Ghana, her total response was much more limited. The meeting and coordinating with officials at the Palisades Fire fell down to Governor Gavin Newsom of all people, who had been in the area for a visit from President Joe Biden and quickly shifted to the Palisades Fire and announced his own state of emergency.

“This is a highly dangerous windstorm that’s creating extreme fire risk – and we’re not out of the woods,” said Newsom on Tuesday. “We’re already seeing the destructive impacts with this fire in Pacific Palisades that grew rapidly in a matter of minutes. Our deepest thanks go to our expert firefighters and first responders who jumped quickly into fighting this dangerous fire. If you’re in Southern California, please pay attention to weather reports and follow any guidance from emergency officials.”

However, with Bass staying in Ghana, the Mayor quickly became the main target of criticism, with many saying she was refusing to go back to the city in it’s time of need, and that her policies contributed to the chaos of firefighters desperately needing water to fight the blazes. Rick Caruso, the real estate developer who nearly defeated Bass in the 2022 Los Angeles Mayoral election, said in a statement on Tuesday that “It’s all about leadership and management that we’re seeing failure of and all these residents are paying the ultimate price for that. Why don’t you call the mayor who is out of the country and ask her. This is like a third world country. There is no water coming out of the fire hydrants. LA Mayor Karen Bass is on a foreign trip to Ghana.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk added on to the criticism on X, saying that “Obama made sure that Rick Caruso, who is extremely competent, lost to utterly incompetent Mayor Karen (her real name).”

Former Ambassador and current advisor to President-elect Donald Trump was more specific in his criticism of Bass on Tuesday, adding that “The national media hasn’t even mentioned that Karen Bass is in Africa while our city is literally burning to the ground. [LA Times Editor] Pat Soon Shiong is trying to protect her. He hired an east coast Republican to write for the OpEd page and he thinks this is enough to fix the LA Times. But it’s his woke newspaper that has given people like Karen Bass the aid and comfort they need to ignore commonsense water and forest policies.”

With pressure mounting and criticism growing of her actions, Bass finally left Ghana on Wednesday. The Mayor’s office has yet to give a statement on Bass and her response, but for many in Los Angeles, the damage from her has already been done.

“Let’s put it this way,” explained Greg Ericson, a fire control consultant and former wildfire firefighter, to the Globe on Wednesday. “Governor Newsom, who has had his own problems with wildfires, managed to be the calming presence on Tuesday for many. Let that sink in. That was supposed to be the job of the Mayor. This was Bass’ time to show her mettle, to show that she could handle a citywide emergency. Help save the very citizens she swore to lead. But no. She was out of the country, didn’t come back right away, and only delivered a paltry state of emergency after Newsom issued his. What kind of leader does that?

“And it wasn’t that she was in another country at the time. She was doing something on behalf of the President. Fine. But her not coming quickly back even though it was obvious it was going to be one of the worst wildfires in LA history? That is why so many in L.A. are outraged with her right now. That’s why people have been criticizing her. At best, this is incompetence. At worst, this was shirking her duty.

“As someone who has been on the ground putting these things out before, the Mayor or other major leader being there and helping coordinate things is a big boost. At the very least, the Mayor or whoever appearing in an area struck by wildfires can be a morale boost for the city, as in ‘We’re not going any where and we will recover’. But she couldn’t even do that. She took a day to decide to come back. It’s awful.”