ALPERN AT LARGE - If the grave disappointment that was Karen Bass’s first mayoral term in Los Angeles is followed by a second term she really doesn’t morally deserve, at least she can look forward to being one of the most hated mayors in our city’s history.
And deservedly so.
Not only did the Palisades and Eaton fires destroy neighborhoods that need not have been so cruelly ravaged, the focus on unsustainable overdevelopment and taxation, while doubling down on horribly-failed homeless policies left the rest of our city in a different sort of wildfire.
Instead of Los Angeles being a place to go to, for too many of us Los Angeles has been a place to flee from—which isn’t really a trend that began under Bass, but she was absolutely not the person to heal the City of the Angels from the chaos instigated by her predecessor (Eric Garcetti).
So while Karen Bass might not win “the prize” of being our worst mayor (perhaps Garcetti’s earned that rank), she’ll avoid the political humiliation suffered by her Chicago counterpart Lori Lightfoot, who was the first mayor in that city to lose reelection in 40 years…
…but Mayor Bass will still be our convenient punching bag (and deservedly so!) for four more years, and I doubt she’ll be greeted by throngs of cheers during our upcoming 2028 OIympics.
Let’s face it, and put on our collective “big boy or big girl pants”, and smell the coffee: Nithya Raman has no competence, or understanding of the laws of economics or politics, to be our next mayor.
It’s easy to throw up one’s hands and scream “let the damned City burn!” but those living here will face the explosion in crime, homelessness, cost of living, and antisemitism/anti-Western sentiments that will thrive in a potential Raman mayoral term of office.
So unless we want YOU or US to burn, then a vote for Karen Bass becomes the obvious “Lesser of Two Evils”.
Yes, Bass has a way forward by the last-second betrayal of Rick Caruso, the personal family tragedy of Austin Beutner, and the amateurish campaign of Spencer Pratt, but sooner or later the bitter pill must get swallowed.
But Karen Bass, despite the tone of this article, does have a better way forward.
And YES, I’d like her to succeed and lift Los Angeles from the ashes in an urban Renaissance powered by the upcoming 2028 OIympics.
What happens if Mayor Bass put her otherwise-winning smile on hold long enough to “channel her own Spencer Pratt” and proclaim, “ENOUGH!”
What happens if Mayor Bass realizes that the taxpayer funding for public sector jobs addressing homelessness must CHANGE, and work with private sector entities to promote results and save money from the taxpayers?
What happens if Mayor Bass does clarify that there ARE some homeless who’ve said “NO” to offered services enough to warrant jail time or expulsion from the City of the Angeles (or at least deny them taxpayer-funded services)?
What happens if Mayor Bass realizes that a restoration of Neighborhood Councils, grassroots activism, and a reconsideration of urban planning to create a more livable Los Angeles occurs on her watch during a second term in office as Mayor?
What happens if Mayor Bass is one of the few politicians who achieves the moral decency to state “I get it” and “I’ve learned from my mistakes” and focuses more on the voter electorate…and not on the same ol’, same ol’ downtown power brokers who’ve run this city into the ground?
Well, maybe Karen Bass won’t be our favorite punching bag for the next four years, and maybe she won’t face a deafening avalanche of boo’s during the 2028 Olympics?
Nithya Raman has NO place in the mayoral office, and we can’t legally do a write-in vote for someone else (check out the rules/laws for write-in candidates in our state, and don’t take my word for it).
So it’s gotta be Karen Bass for our next mayor…
…and if she wins, it’ll be up to her to determine if she’ll face four years of grief or something else during the runup to the 2028 Olympics.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
