At LA Mayoral Debate, Bass Defends Her Response to Catastrophic Wildfires

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.”...