Latest news with #LaFire
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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." Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Sacks Fire Chief Who Said City Failed Residents In Wildfires 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. Read On The Fox News App "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. La Fire Sounded Alarm On Budget Cuts Impacting Wildfire Response: Memo 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 article source: Kristin Crowley appeals Los Angeles mayor's decision to terminate her as LAFD chief
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass sacks fire chief who said city failed residents in wildfires
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Friday announced that LAFD Fire Chief Kristin Crowley had been fired. Crowley had criticized Bass and other Democratic leadership with the city, claiming it had failed its 100,000 residents displaced during January's wildfires. Crowley said in January that pressing staffing shortages impacted the department's response time when the blaze began tearing across Los Angeles. La Fire Sounded Alarm On Budget Cuts Impacting Wildfire Response: Memo "Any budget cut is going to impact our ability to provide service," Crowley said at the time. "That is a ground truth in regard to our ability. If there's a budget cut, we had to pull from somewhere else. What does that mean? That doesn't get done or that there are delays." Crowley said that staffing shortages and lack of resources have been a pressing issue facing the LAFD for years. She pointed to a series of memos she sent to the city identifying in detail the needs of the department. Read On The Fox News App "Since day one, we've identified huge gaps in regard to our service delivery and our ability of our firefighters' boots on the ground to do their jobs since day one," she said. "This is my third budget as we're going into 2025-2026, and what I can tell you is we are still understaffed, we're still under-resourced and we're still underfunded." Bass has appointed former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva, a 41-year LAFD veteran, as interim fire chief. In a statement Friday, she said: "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." La Mayor Bass Concedes Africa Trip Was 'Absolutely' A Mistake Amid Botched Wildfire Response In a noon press conference on Friday, Bass also denied cutting the department's budget, reiterating that Crowley had been fired because 1,000 firefighters had been sent home on the first day of the fires on Jan. 7 and that she had later refused to do an after-action report. "These actions required her removal," she added. "While the Department is in the experienced and expert hands of Chief Villanueva, my office will lead a national search and I will speak directly with firefighters and Angelenos about what they want to see in their next permanent chief," she said in a statement. After a reporter asked why Bass didn't fire Crowley immediately in January, she answered that she "was not going to do anything while we were in a state of emergency." She said that she had always been briefed by Crowley about previus emergencies, but claimed Crowley had not briefed her this time, saying that they didn't speak until the evening of Jan. 7, after the fires had been raging for hours. Bass was on a trip to Ghana at the time, which she has been criticized. "Los Angeles needs to move forward. This is a new day," Bass said. "We want to have the full investigation that the governor has ordered and the investigation that we will do locally." She also said at the press conference that the Palisades Fire recovery is "months ahead of schedule." "We have just experienced the worst natural disaster that our city has ever experienced," Bass said, adding that it will take time to recover. Republican Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass in the last mayoral election, criticized Crowley's firing. "It is very disappointing that Mayor Bass has decided to fire Chief Kristin Crowley," he wrote on X. "Chief Crowley served Los Angeles well and spoke honestly about the severe and profoundly ill-conceived budget cuts the Bass administration made to the LAFD. That courage to speak the truth was brave, and I admire her. Honesty in a high city official should not be a firing offense. The Mayor's decision to ignore the warnings and leave the city was hers alone. This is a time for city leaders to take responsibility for their actions and their decisions. We need real leadership, not more blame passing."Original article source: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass sacks fire chief who said city failed residents in wildfires
