The incumbent faces two challengers on an array of issues including crime, housing, illegal immigration, and reviving Hollywood.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faced intense scrutiny in a televised debate for her actions before, during, and after last year’s catastrophic fires that left about 30 people dead and destroyed thousands of homes.
The May 6 debate hosted by NBC 4 and Telemundo 52 covered everything from Hollywood to homelessness and illegal immigration, as Bass faced challengers Spencer Pratt, a media entrepreneur and a former reality TV host who lost his home in the fires, and City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, an urban planner.
“When I took over as mayor, L.A. was definitely facing an awful lot of tough problems, and obviously Jan. 7 was horrible,” Bass said, referring to the day the Palisades wildfire started. “It was one of the worst moments of my life to not be here when my city needed me, and it didn’t matter where I was or why I was away.”
Bass, who was visiting the Republic of Ghana in West Africa during the fires, blamed some of the devastation on former Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley, who, she said, sent home 1,000 firefighters.
Although Bass admitted some of the trucks “were broken,” she said, “we actually had fire trucks with not enough firefighters.”
She fired Crowley in February 2025.
Pratt put the blame back on Bass, saying fire engines weren’t available for the 1,000 firefighters because Bass denied Crowley’s request for $17 million nine weeks before the fires.
He also blamed Bass for dry water reservoirs and fire hydrants, and fire helicopter crews having to “fly all the way to Malibu and Encino to get water.”
“That, to me, is the most dangerous thing that this mayor put us up against,” Pratt said.
He dismissed claims that “hurricane force winds” in the Pacific Palisades were to blame for the severity of the fires, saying winds never exceeded 40 mph for the first six hours and dropped to less than 27 mph after that.
When asked by an NBC moderator what he would do as mayor if the city faced the same situation, Pratt said he would never drain reservoirs needed for wildfire protection and that he would create a network of 20 “dip sites” where helicopters could access water from pools.
Bass countered that the reservoir, originally used for wildfires, had been used to store drinking water for the past 30 to 40 years and that the winds reached speeds close to 100 miles an hour, dismissed Pratt’s claims as “completely inaccurate.”
“She’s an incredible liar,” he responded, prompting a reprimand for name-calling from NBC moderator Colleen Williams.
Raman was asked what she did proactively to ensure her district was prepared for wildfires. Raman replied that mudslides have been the biggest issue in her district, but that brush was cleared to prevent flooding.
“We do brush clearance and make sure that all of the departments that are supposed to be doing brush clearance are actually doing that work,” she said. “Before this set of fires, we sent out an email.”
Raman said it’s the mayor’s job to act as CEO of the city, prepare for disasters, and coordinate emergency operations.
“As a council member, you’re a legislator, you push for your district … but really it is the mayor’s role,” she said.
By Brad Jones
