LA City Council Denies Appeal Of Former LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley

In a 13-2 vote on Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted to not reinstate former Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Chief Kristin Crowley following her firing by LA Mayor Karen Bass last week.

At a press conference on February 21st, Bass blamed Crowley for mishandling the Palisades Fire, claiming that she did not send out all available firefighters when the fire began and that she didn’t do an after action report on the fires. Bass further blamed Crowley in her statement for not telling her of the exact dangers of a wildfire before leaving for Africa. Crowley subsequently appealed the decision days later, saying that it was Bass to blame, as Crowley fought against Bass for weeks on everything from Bass lying about her her $17.5 million in cuts to the LAFD budget not being detrimental to fighting wildfires even though they were to Bass not saying that she was never informed of the high wind danger before leaving on an international trip, even though Bass was told.

The spat led to Tuesday, where Crowley came before a largely Bass supportive City Council to appeal her firing and be reinstated as Chief. She also refuted many of the allegations that Bass levied against her at the time of her firing.

“I stand before you today, not only as the former fire chief appealing to be reinstated, but as a leader who has always placed the safety, health and well-being of our incredible and heroic firefighters first while always balancing and prioritizing the needs of the community we love to serve,” said Crowley in her appeal to the Council. “I have seen our fire department struggle from year to year with limited funding, staffing and resources. We are past the point of sustaining our services without compromising public safety and the safety of our firefighters.

“I did not refuse to conduct an after-action report. During our discussions about an after-action report, I advised the fire commissioners about my opinion that was best in regard to how to use LAFD resources. I said that the LAFD is not capable nor do we have the proper resources to adequately conduct an after-action report for the Palisades Fire. It is never the wrong time to do the right thing and to speak the truth, and the truth is that the fire chief should not be prevented from or punished for speaking openly and honestly about the needs and the capabilities of the LAFD.”

Crowley received significant back up from supporters at the meeting, including several residents who called out Mayor Bass for scapegoating Crowley for her own problems and the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City union, who stood 100% behind Crowley.

“The men and women of our great fire department support Chief Crowley because she stood up, she spoke out, and she had our backs,” explained Chuong Ho, a union representative. “I’ve never seen a fire chief in my career consistently speak out about the constant understaffing and lack of funding for our fire department. Crowley’s firing was in retaliation after she spoke out publicly about budget cuts that hindered firefighting efforts.”

13-2 against Crowley

Despite the overwhelming support, most of the Council members stuck with Bass. Crowley needed 10 of the 15 Councilmembers to vote on her side. But the vote on Tuesday stood at 13-2 against Crowley being reinstated, with most backing up Bass’ reasoning for firing her despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Many also noted that they didn’t want to challenge the mayor’s statutory power, which allows them to get rid of any appointee as they see fit. Only Councilwomen Traci Park and Monica Rodriguez sided with Crowley at the meeting.

While Bass won in the Council meeting on Tuesday, she continued to fall in the eye of the public. Earlier on Tuesday, a recall effort against Bass began, with her mismanagement of the wildfires being front and center for the reasons behind it. This is in addition to her dwindling public support and continued calls for her to resign.

“Yeah, just because the Council turned down Crowley today doesn’t mean Bass is out of the woods,” added former lobbyist Harry Schultz to the Globe on Tuesday. “She is still the Mayor of a city that largely hates her and, like you said, now has that recall going against her. And you just know that Crowley is going to come back too. Oh, and to add to all that, Bass just pissed off all the firefighters. Getting the support of firefighters is always a must during an election, especially for a sitting Mayor. She just lost them since they all were for Crowley.”