Don’t just look at Mayor Bass — look at her appointees |
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Don’t just look at Mayor Bass — look at her appointees
What do America’s three largest cities — New York, Chicago and Los Angeles — all have in common?
First, all three are in decline, shedding jobs, adding debt and seeing a steady decline in public services.
Each of them also has a mayor with no real private sector job experience.
Zohran Mamdani was a “community organizer” before being elected to the New York state legislature at age 29.
Brandon Johnson of Chicago was a paid organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union when he took office in 2023.
Karen Bass briefly worked as a physician’s assistant before becoming a community organizer and launching a political career that pole-vaulted her into the job of LA mayor in 2022.
All three have demonstrated a lack of practical management skills, poor knowledge of how complex organizations run, and an addiction to patronage politics.
In Bass’ case, her limitations were dramatically on display during the 2025 wildfires. Her major contribution appears to have been altering, in her favor, a critical after-action report on the devastating fires. (Bass’ office has said she did not demand changes to the report, and only asked the LAFD to confirm the accuracy of certain items.)
She followed that up by appointing Jaime Moore as her new Fire Chief, who promptly announced that he wouldn’t investigate how the report was allegedly........