Mayor Bass: Crime and Homelessness

Imagine an alternative universe, perhaps one in which the Supreme Court had not overturned Roe v. Wade in the middle of Los Angeles’ mayoral campaign, but where Rick Caruso had defeated Karen Bass in last year’s election. In that alternate world, when Mayor Caruso announced his first budget proposal last week, it would have been reasonable to expect this news story:

“Los Angeles Mayor Rick Caruso released the first budget proposal of his administration on Tuesday, calling for more police and greater spending on homelessness, anti-gang programs and the city’s struggling animal shelters. 

“Caruso renewed his call for the Los Angeles Police Department to increase its ranks by 400 officers, to about 9,500. He also revealed that his plan will rely on a key recruitment strategy: persuading 200 retired officers, many of whom left recently, to return for at least 12 months.”

Bass is reflecting a growing trend among Democratic leaders to confront these problems in a tough-minded and pragmatic way that draws broad popular support.

Substitute the name of our actual mayor and switch a few pronouns, and you have just read the opening paragraphs from the Los Angeles Times’ coverage of Bass’ budget news conference last week. It’s not hard to imagine Caruso outlining almost identical spending priorities for the city if he had won the election. Bass has already staked her mayorship on fighting crime and homelessness. In doing so, she is reflecting a growing trend among Democratic leaders across the country to confront these problems in a tough-minded and pragmatic way that draws broad popular support.

Throughout the 2020 general election, Joe Biden made it clear that he had no intention of “defunding the police” and was able to avoid the worst of the crime-based attacks that Donald Trump threw at him. The following year, Eric Adams was elected mayor of New York City with a similarly centrist platform. Both men faced harsh criticism from progressive activists during and after their elections, but both recognized that voters were frustrated by a more traditional left-leaning approach that had been largely ineffective. During her own campaign last year, Bass demonstrated a willingness to employ similar strategies to confront the city’s twin crises and has focused her attention almost completely on these issues.

Had Caruso been able to run against a more liberal opponent than Bass, he would have been more likely to prevail with a public safety-centered message. But Bass allowed for little daylight between the two of them on these issues and ultimately convinced Angelenos that she was capable of successfully confronting them. After her first few months in office, the public seems satisfied that she is making reasonable progress. Even though crime and homelessness are still out of control, early polling shows that voters believe she is heading in the right direction.

Like Biden and Adams, Bass still faces no shortage of criticism from her party’s progressive base. In her budget address, the mayor anticipated strong disapproval from other local officials.

“We are proposing increasing the police force, and it will cause tensions on the City Council,” she said. “But I am confident that we will be able to overcome those tensions.”

Councilmembers Nithya Raman, Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martínez will be the most vocal opponents to Bass’ fund-the-police-even-more budget, and there are other members who may also line up in opposition. But Bass understands that while Angelenos are wary of law enforcement overreach, they also prioritize their own safety and recognize that enhanced police protection is a necessary component of providing that safety. The new mayor’s greatest strength in her previous jobs in the state legislature and in Congress was her ability to forge compromise behind closed doors and it appears that she is still becoming comfortable with the bully pulpit that comes with executive positions like this one. She is going to need both skill sets to move the Council in her direction but she starts with the voters on her side.

Caruso would have been a much different mayor in many ways, as both his supporters and Bass’ would be quick to tell you. But on the two issues that matter most to local voters, it looks like they would have been remarkably similar.

Dan Schnur is a Professor at the University of California – Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. Join Dan for his weekly webinar “Politics in the Time of Coronavirus” (www.lawac.org) on Tuesdays at 5 PM.