Kristin Crowley appeals Los Angeles mayor's decision to terminate her as LAFD chief
Former Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley has started the appeal process following Mayor Karen Bass' decision to fire her a week ago.
Her decision to appeal comes after Bass' decision has spun up criticism from City Councilmembers and the public for what they say is "misrepresenting the facts."
Crowley announced the appeal to City Council members on Thursday.
"I choose to proceed with the Council appeal provided for in Los Angeles Charter, Article V, Section 5.08(e), due to Mayor Bass's removal of me, on February 21, 2025, from the position of Fire Chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department," read Crowley's note. "I look forward to hearing from you about next steps, if any."
Bass announced that she was firing Crowley after last month's devastating Palisades Fire and appointing former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva, a 41-year LAFD veteran, as interim fire chief. She said it was in the best interest of Los Angeles.
"Acting in the best interests of Los Angeles' public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I have removed Kristin Crowley as Fire Chief. We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley's watch. Furthermore, a necessary step to an investigation was the President of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after action report on the fires. The Chief refused. These require her removal. The heroism of our firefighters – during the Palisades fire and every single day – is without question. Bringing new leadership to the fire department is what our city needs."
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson added the appeal on the agenda hours after Crowley's announcement to be discussed at a special council meeting Friday at 5 p.m.
United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, the union that represents city firefighters and are supporters of Crowley, said in a post to Facebook it was outrageous to schedule, with only 24-hour notice, a "Special Meeting" to hear Chief Crowley's appeal.
"This is an example of why the public doesn't trust City Hall and the constant missteps that we have seen our city leaders make since the fires broke out on January 7th. This is not transparent, fair, or just. It's yet another public blunder coming out of City Hall that makes the people of Los Angeles continue to question the motives and trustworthiness of our city's leaders," the post said.
The union went on to say that they believe the reasons she was terminated were manufactured and, in reality, Crowley was fired for telling the truth.
"Our rank-and-file firefighters on the ground strongly support Chief Crowley. They know the truth, we have her back, and we will fight for her right to set the record straight," they said.
"This is the first City Council meeting that we are aware of, perhaps ever, that has been scheduled on 24-hour notice for a Friday at 5:00 pm. It's obvious that some on the City Council are attempting to bury this issue when nobody is watching and holding them accountable. City Council Members will have to ask themselves if this is the way they want to decide the fate of our Fire Chief. What's happening is wrong, and everyone knows it."
Crowley's appeal will require a vote of at least 10 of 15 members in her favor. It remains unclear how the vote will go as four council members stood behind Bass during the press conference as she announced the decision to remove Crowley.
Councilmember Bob Blumenfield believes it is in the mayor's right to hire and fire whom she wishes.
"She needs to have the full confidence of her general managers and her chiefs. If she has lost that confidence, she has every right to change out the head of a department" or fire chief, he said earlier this week.
The Los Angeles City Charter allows the mayor the ability to remove most department heads, including the fire chief, without council approval.
The charter also gives the fired employee the right to appeal the decision to the council with the possibility of reinstatement.
The City Council has 10 meeting days to act on Crowley's filing, per the charter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
NYC councilmember urges residents to take up arms after robbers tied up Queens family in shocking home invasion
A City Council member from Queens is urging her constituents to arm themselves following a terrifying home invasion in which robbers posing as Amazon drivers tied up a family and snatched thousands of dollars in cash, according to cops. Republican Vickie Paladino offered to help residents in her district — which covers Whitestone, where the ordeal took place — obtain gun permits in light of the break-in Monday morning. 'I want to remind my constituents that New Yorkers have a constitutional right to protect themselves,' Paladino said in a statement. Advertisement 'I urge my constituents to avail themselves of their rights under the Second Amendment; my office is always available to assist constituents with obtaining firearm permits for premises or concealed carry,' she said Tuesday. The conservative pol's call to arms came as the NYPD on Wednesday released surveillance footage of the pair of wanted perps wearing baseball caps, with one of them carrying an Amazon box and the other wearing a bright-yellow vest, walking on the quiet residential block. The masked thieves pushed their way into the home at around 9 a.m., tying up the family living there, including three children, duct-taping their mouths — and then making off with the cash and jewelry, cops said. Advertisement Council Member Vickie Paladino said she would help constituents get gun permits in a post on Facebook. Vickie Palladino / Facebook 'The NYPD has indicated that this was a targeted incident and there is no ongoing threat to the community,' Paladino said. 'Let me be absolutely clear – violence has no place in Whitestone or anywhere in our district.' Neighbors said home invasions were not uncommon in the area — with at least two telling The Post they had recently been robbed. Advertisement A 37-year-old Whitestone resident who declined to give her name said money and jewelry were taken from her house six months ago, but luckily no one was home at the time. 'I don't think it was random. I think people are scoping out the area,' she said. 'This neighborhood has been a little crazy. The same thing that happened to them happened to us.' Another neighbor, a 25-year-old man, said his house had been broken into about six months ago as well. Advertisement Police are still investigating the crime, the suspects have not yet been apprehended. Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto/Shutterstock 'When that happened, we got prepared. You gotta protect yourself. All that matters is your life. The bad people, they never get caught,' he told the Post. The 109th precinct, which encompasses Whitestone, has reported 99 robberies so far in 2025. The NYPD is still searching for the suspects in the latest heist. 'The safety of our neighborhoods is my top priority – and I will not sit quietly while violence threatens our neighborhoods,' Paladino said.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Aldermen advance measure allowing Airbnb bans in Chicago precincts
Aldermen took a step Wednesday toward giving themselves the power to ban Airbnb's and other short-term rentals from opening in their wards. The City Council's License and Consumer Protection Committee advanced the ordinance that would allow aldermen to unilaterally block new short-term rentals one precinct at a time. It could now face a final vote by all aldermen as soon as next week. Sponsor Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, called the city's current ordinance made a decade ago 'extremely sloppy.' The existing law allows short-term rentals to be blocked only when 25% of a precinct's registered voters sign a petition calling for it. 'This is the only ordinance written in the city of Chicago where, when there is a problem in the industry, the onus is put on residents to fix it,' Napolitano said. The Far Northwest Side alderman's ordinance seeks to reverse that, allowing aldermen to block short-term rentals in a precinct on their own. It would then give companies the chance to overturn the ban by collecting signatures from 10% of the precinct's voters. Most aldermen in attendance backed the ordinance in a voice vote. Several cited issues in their ward with disruptive parties at short-term rentals, a problem Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, said is 'on steroids' in dense downtown high rises. 'The guests are taking over common areas, pool decks, lobbies, fitness rooms,' he said. 'With the late night parties and noise complaints, et cetera, God help you if you own a condo next to one of these nightly rental units.' Napolitano argued the ordinance will not hurt short-term rental companies, but instead simply gives aldermen a tool to advocate for residents when issues arise. But Airbnb is strongly opposed to the proposal. 'Alderman Napolitano's ordinance amendment is an over-broad and misguided violation of Chicagoans' property rights, which would punish responsible homeowners and local businesses who rely on the income from travel on short-term rentals — especially in neighborhoods outside of Chicago's traditional tourism hubs,' Airbnb spokesperson Jonathan Buckner said in a statement Wednesday. Mayor Brandon Johnson is continuing to not take a side on the issue. Asked where he stood on the ordinance at a Wednesday morning news conference, he said he wanted to 'continue to ensure that we are building a safe, affordable city.' 'This particular measure, quite frankly, I'll have to look into a little bit deeper,' Johnson said. 'But I know that there are a number of alders who mean well and are trying to show up for their particular pocket of the city.' Several aldermen noted the absence of staff from Johnson's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, adding that they wished someone could answer questions about how bans could affect tax revenue. Alds. Matt O'Shea, 19th, and Bill Conway, 34th, voted against the measure, with O'Shea noting taxes on the rentals sent around $4 million to fight domestic violence. 'Have we thought of how we are going to replace that?' O'Shea asked. 'It's been my experience working with Airbnb that when a problem is identified, it's addressed.' Ald. Marty Quinn, 13th, used the city's current process requiring residents' signatures to ban short-term rentals from every precinct in his Southwest Side ward. The whole-ward ban took 12,000 signatures and seven years to complete, he said. The ward is '95% single family dwellings,' and short-term rentals 'would have an adverse impact on our quality of life,' Quinn said. Asked what he thinks of Airbnb's argument that the ban is similar to historic racist efforts to keep Black and Latino people out of certain neighborhoods, Quinn called it a 'desperate statement from a company who got exactly what they wanted' when the original ordinance passed. 'I'm not saying that Airbnb isn't good in some parts of the city,' he said. 'It's just not good in the Bungalow Belt, and I have 12,000 signatures that would suggest that.' Aldermen also Wednesday advanced a measure to crack down on illegal pedicabs with potential impoundments.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Inside Austin's Agenda: City Council Member Marc Duchen
AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Wednesday's episode of Inside Austin's Agenda, host Grace Reader will sit down with Austin City Council Member Marc Duchen to talk about upcoming budget conversations now that the council has wrapped up for its summer break. Austin is projecting a budget deficit heading into the next fiscal year. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson has also stated that the city will need to address 'budget asteroids' — including the state tax cap and the expiration of American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, dollars. KXAN has covered ARPA funding running out extensively. The Austin City Council will have to work with city staff to address those budget concerns and approve the final budget before the fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. Inside Austin's Agenda: Mayor looks to beef up budget process amid financial uncertainty Inside Austin's Agenda is live every other Wednesday at 3 p.m. Watch every episode at the top of this article, on Facebook, and on our KXAN+ streaming app. You can find previous episodes here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
