Karen Bass misled about edits

Karen Bass appears to have lied about her office’s role in editing the LA Fire Department’s after-action report on the Palisades Fire.

Last week, when it emerged that Bass’s office had seen the report before it was published, the mayor denied watering it down.

“Mayor Bass has been unequivocal for months — she reviewed an early draft of the report and only asked the LAFD to make sure it was accurate on issues like weather and budget,” a spokesperson told The California Post.

Karen Bass appears to have lied about her office’s role in editing the LA Fire Department’s after-action report on the Palisades Fire. Jonathan Alcorn for California Post

But as The Post noted at the time, “weather and budgets are at the core of what went wrong last January.”

On Monday, our reporter, Jamie Paige, reported exclusively on the contents of the elusive first draft of the report — the one the mayor wanted to make sure was “accurate.”

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She discovered major, substantive edits made between the first draft and the final version:

• The final draft omits any mention of the role of the mayor’s office in preparing the report.
• The final report removed an admission in the draft that the fire department tried to save money by not “pre-deploying all available resources.” Instead, the final version praised the department for “proper preparation.”
• The draft said that if the department had followed its procedures for previous weather events, “there would have been a recall of members for all available positions.” The final version said that the “initial response” to the fire had lacked resources, implying that firefighters on the front lines might have been to blame.
• The draft said that firefighters arriving on the scene “lacked clarity regarding the communication protocol.” The final version shifted blame to the firefighters, saying that “most did not communicate their needs.”
• The draft said that 40 fire engines were unavailable on the morning of the fire due to mechanical reasons. The final version included that information — but only later in the document, after saying that the fleet had been available for the task.
• Other language was changed or weakened from the draft report to the final version. “Failures” became “primary challenges” or even “successes.” “Injuries” became “minor injuries.” Even references to “wind” were edited out.

Those aren’t edits for accuracy. They are changes that shift responsibility away from the mayor to the fire department, and from senior officials to rank-and-file firefighters. 

The mayor must explain why she apparently lied to the media and the public about the nature of the edits.

This is no longer a story about a natural disaster, or climate change. It is no longer the tragedy of one or two neighborhoods. It is no longer just a story about poor management and preparation. 

Now, it is a story about honesty, integrity, and accountability.

The mayor ignored calls to resign after the Palisades Fire, even though she chose to leave the country before the high winds arrived last January 7. 

Today, she is running for re-election.

She is asking the public to trust her, again. Voters will have to ask themselves whether Karen Bass has earned that trust.