Survivors of the Palisades Fire say they intend to vote for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — even as they hold her responsible for failures surrounding the disaster.
Four residents who lost their homes in the deadly blaze told the California Post they remain deeply frustrated with Bass’s administration. The fire began on Jan. 7, 2025, while Bass was in Ghana.
Still, their anger has not persuaded them to support socialist-backed challenger Nithya Raman.
A recent California Post/McLaughlin poll showed Raman ahead of Bass, 46.7% to 38.8%, while 13.5% of likely voters remained undecided. Only 25.5% approved of Bass’s performance, compared with 71.7% who disapproved.
A separate UC Berkeley/Los Angeles Times poll found the candidates tied at 40%, with 19% undecided. The survey also found that 65% of likely voters viewed Bass unfavorably.
For Nina Madok, a Republican whose home was destroyed, backing Bass is anything but an enthusiastic endorsement.
“Do I think Karen’s actions resulted in our town burning down? Yes. Do I think that she’s been problematic on delivering on some of the promises that she’s made, or the things we’ve asked them for? Yes, absolutely,” Madok said.
“But the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.”
Jessica Rogers, president and executive director of the Palisades Long-Term Recovery Group, said in her capacity as a resident that she is concerned about Raman and her ties to the Democratic Socialists of America.
“What we’re being faced with is not just an opponent. It’s a political machine called the Democratic Socialists of America,” Rogers said. She added that policies she associates with former DSA-backed Westside Councilman Mike Bonin weakened public safety.
Rogers said Bass had helped coordinate with federal environmental officials after the Palisades Fire, engage with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and address security concerns.
“Mayor Bass was asked to give us extra safety and security, and work with our law enforcement, and she did,” Rogers said.
Madok, who eventually obtained rebuilding permits and hopes to move back home by December 2027, said Bass’s administration understands the bureaucratic obstacles slowing the recovery.
“They have a deeper knowledge of what the issues are. They know where the bodies are buried,” she said.
Madok also said Bass’s relationships with Republicans in Washington could prove valuable in obtaining federal aid.
“Karen Bass has not dismissed Republicans,” she said.
Nearly 22 months after the blaze killed at least 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 structures, reconstruction remains painfully slow.
As of Oct. 20, only 62 properties had received certificates of occupancy, according to a private tracker that uses city permit records. Thousands of families are still displaced.
Sue Kohl, a former president of the Pacific Palisades Community Council who also lost her home, acknowledged that Bass made a serious mistake by traveling to Ghana despite warnings about dangerous fire conditions.
“All right, she made a mistake. She’s not the only human in the world to have ever made a mistake,” Kohl said.
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In an exclusive interview with The Post on Friday, Bass said her “biggest regret is most obviously that I wasn’t here” when the fire began.
Kohl said Bass had visited the community, sent deputies to recovery meetings and helped secure state restrictions on increasing housing density in neighborhoods damaged by fire.
“Karen Bass works hard, and she has good people in her office, and she’s done everything in her power since the fire,” Kohl said.
Kohl also faulted Raman for opposing anti-camping restrictions, arguing that public safety must remain a priority.
Kaye Steinsapir, another Bass supporter, said she confronted the mayor directly about what she viewed as a lack of leadership after the fire.
“I’ve had quite a few conversations with the mayor myself. I didn’t sugarcoat anything that I said to her,” she said.
Steinsapir said her criticism was so blunt that she worried the mayor’s office would stop communicating with her.
Instead, she said, Bass listened and continued working with community leaders.
“I’ve seen cooperation, and good things from the mayor’s office that a lot of people in the community are unaware of,” Steinsapir added.
Their decisions mirror those of billionaire developer Rick Caruso, Bass’s former political rival, and Palisades Councilwoman Traci Park. Both plan to vote for Bass despite reservations about her leadership.
Caruso, who lost to Bass in the 2022 election, said Monday that he would vote for his former opponent after working with her on rebuilding the fire-ravaged Palisades.
“For the love of LA, I must put the past behind me because this election must be about our future,” Caruso said. “I will be casting my ballot for Mayor Karen Bass.”
On Saturday, Bass and Caruso appeared together at the Brentwood Country Mart for a meet-and-greet ahead of Tuesday’s election.
“I know we need to look forward in the city, and the direction of the city is going to be critically important for the next four years,” Caruso said. “We have to support Mayor Bass so please vote for her.”
Park, whose district includes the devastated Palisades, likewise said she would vote for Bass without formally endorsing her.
“I’m not endorsing Karen Bass, but I am voting for Karen Bass,” Park said at a Palisades town hall.
“I hear you — I want some change too, but the alternative does not actually get us where we want to be,” Park said. “I think it actually impedes our progress, and unfortunately will take us back to where we were.”
Raman responded Friday in a letter to the Palisadian-Post after a high school student wrote that the Palisades Fire should remain on voters’ minds on Election Day.
“The city’s failures before, during and after the Palisades Fire were staggering, heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable,” Raman wrote in response to the piece, which did not endorse either candidate.
“It is the mayor’s duty to ‘supervise emergency preparedness activities in the various departments and offices,’ as explicitly defined in our city charter. To say our current mayor failed in that duty when it was needed most is painfully obvious.”
