L.A.’s Mayor Breaks Promises: The Unexpected International Journey Before Taking Office

Following the inaugural rally of her campaign for mayor of Los Angeles in 2021, Karen Bass candidly discussed what she perceived as a potential hindrance of the role — limited opportunities for global travel and engagement in international matters.

Ms. Bass was used to traversing the globe as a Democratic Congressional member and part of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, devoting decades to improving U.S.-Africa relations. It was one of the most captivating aspects of her political journey, she expressed to The New York Times during an interview on October 17, 2021, at her residence in Baldwin Vista, Los Angeles.

“I traveled to Africa every few months, constantly,” she stated, adding, “The thought of giving that up, particularly the international and African work, I was thinking, ‘Hmm, I’m not sure I want to do that.’”

In the end, she affirmed her choice to proceed, informing The Times that if she were to become mayor, “not only would I undoubtedly reside here, but I also would refrain from international travel — the only places I would visit would be D.C., Sacramento, San Francisco, and New York, relative to L.A.”

That commitment has been remarkably violated.

As a wave of deadly and devastating wildfires broke out across the Los Angeles area on Tuesday, the mayor was returning home from Ghana in West Africa, having attended the inauguration of a newly appointed president.

This was not her initial overseas journey since taking office as mayor. An assessment of her public daily itinerary over the previous year reveals that Ms. Bass has traveled abroad at the city’s expense at least four other times in the months leading up to her Ghana trip — once to Mexico for President Claudia Sheinbaum’s inauguration and three times to France for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Her unfulfilled promise to cease international travel and her packed international itinerary since becoming mayor in December 2022 went barely noticed by the public before the wildfires, and Los Angeles constituents accepted — and in some cases even embraced — the mayor’s identity not only as a city leader but also as a global figure akin to Washington. However, her decision to exit the country while the National Weather Service was alerting of “extreme fire weather conditions” has sparked a political controversy for Ms. Bass.

Opponents have reacted strongly. Liberal supporters whose properties were affected have transformed into furious critics. An online petition demanding her prompt resignation has amassed over 100,000 signatures. MAGA Republicans and their associates have flooded social media, intensifying and capitalizing on the outrage.

Firefighters, whose union supported her opponent, Rick Caruso, during the mayoral campaign, have alleged that she has cut funding to the fire department, a misleading and inaccurate claim. Kristin M. Crowley, the city’s fire chief, when questioned by a reporter from a local Fox News station, admitted that she believed the Fire Department had been neglected by city officials.

The repercussions are jeopardizing Ms. Bass’s capacity to govern as the city faces a challenging journey to recuperate from one of the most extensive catastrophes in Southern California’s history while also preparing for the monumental task of the 2028 Olympic Games. Recovery from the 1992 Los Angeles riots spanned decades.

“I believe being out of state and not present when the crisis unfolded is quite detrimental for her,” stated Rob Stutzman, a Republican political advisor who previously served as an aide to former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “This marks the most significant disaster in Los Angeles since the Watts riots. You have one objective as mayor — to be present and to lead. This was not unforeseeable, like an earthquake.”

Mayor Bass did not directly respond to several requests for comment.

Zach Seidl, her spokesperson, asserted that the mayor is “intensely focused on ongoing response and recovery efforts.” Regarding her 2021 comments on travel, he mentioned: “Given the approaching Olympics, the city managing the nation’s largest international trade hub, and that a third of Angelenos have international roots, this was indeed a miscommunication — mayors of Los Angeles commonly travel internationally.”

During press conferences, Ms. Bass, 71, has consistently acknowledged the city’s sorrow and frustration, urging citizens to “unite” and “oppose those who aim to divide us.” She has pledged that after the fires are extinguished, “we will conduct a thorough assessment of what was effective and, notably, what was not.”

On Wednesday, shortly after her return, she stated she had undertaken the journey at the recommendation of the Biden administration, assuring that she had been in “constant communication” with local, federal, and county authorities after the fires began, and that she took a military flight to return as swiftly as possible.

“I was on the phone, on the plane, nearly every hour during the flight,” she shared with reporters at a news conference, standing among emergency officials. “Therefore, although I was not physically present, I was in contact with numerous individuals during the entire duration. When I landed, I promptly went to the fire-affected area and observed what transpired in Pacific Palisades.”

Renowned for her cooperative approach, Ms. Bass has deep connections within Los Angeles and a profound level of trust among the largely liberal electorate. Her management of crises prior to the wildfires had generally been commended, including dealing with a series of mudslides and winter flooding the previous year and the rapid restoration of part of Interstate 10 in 2023 after it suffered substantial fire damage. Her acceptance of the Olympic flag during one of her trips to France, as the first Black woman to represent a host city, waswidely acknowledged as ground-breaking, and her national travels frequently yielded outcomes that benefited her city.

In late April, she spearheaded a bipartisan group of mayors to Washington, D.C. There, she effectively urged federal officials to broaden veterans’ eligibility for housing vouchers, a modification expected to play a crucial role in tackling homelessness in Los Angeles and nationwide.

However, her travels — both domestically and abroad — have occasionally complicated her management of civic emergencies. Her visit to Ghana was not the first instance when she was out of the city while crises and significant news events occurred.

During that late April visit to Washington, pro-Palestinian demonstrations at U.C.L.A. escalated into violence. She shortened her trip and returned on May 1, issuing statements throughout the journey to reassure residents.

While she was in France for the Olympics’ closing ceremony in August, Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared at a mid-city underpass to stress that local governments needed to intensify their efforts to clear homeless encampments. During her time in Paris for the Paralympic Games in September, the National Weather Service issued an excessive heat alert for Los Angeles, predicting temperatures of 117 degrees. Power outages led to the cancellation of a performance at the Hollywood Bowl.

None of those trips sparked complaints. The U.C.L.A. protests were managed by various jurisdictions, and Los Angeles is set to host the 2028 Olympic Games.

Municipal governance, like many other professions, has become increasingly mobile. Computers, cellphones, and video conferencing enable elected officials to operate remotely, while chains of command delineate who is in authority when an official is out of town or out of state.

The mayor’s office released her public itinerary for Saturday, Jan. 4, just after midnight that day, announcing that President Biden had requested her assistance in representing the United States at the Jan. 7 inauguration ceremonies in Ghana. Ms. Bass departed later on Saturday morning. Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the president of the Los Angeles City Council and a mentee of the mayor, assumed the role of acting mayor upon her departure.

The National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office began issuing increasingly alarming updates about severe winds on Sunday. A red flag warning regarding fire hazards issued on Sunday escalated on Monday to a “particularly dangerous situation” warning, marking only the fifth instance the agency had ever issued such a warning for Los Angeles.

“ATTENTION!!! A LIFE-THREATENING, DESTRUCTIVE, Widespread Windstorm is anticipated,” the agency posted on X Monday, predicting that winds could reach 100 m.p.h. and affect areas not typically impacted.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, amid raging fires, Mr. Harris-Dawson, the acting mayor, reported receiving real-time briefings from the heads of various agencies, including those responsible for law enforcement, fire, water, and transportation. He communicated with the public at press conferences as the city’s main elected official. He represented Ms. Bass at the city’s emergency operations center and authorized the city to declare a state of emergency.

Mr. Harris-Dawson also noted that Ms. Bass was listening to the briefings as well and participated in the decision-making, despite the eight-hour time difference between California and Ghana. She could make calls even while flying home due to being on a military aircraft, which was available to her because of her diplomatic mission, he stated.

“It wasn’t as if I was in a room having to make this decision,” Mr. Harris-Dawson remarked. “I’m the acting mayor, and the elected mayor is on the phone, receiving the same information I’m getting. It was much more a collaboration than simply establishing a temporary mayor.”

Mr. Harris-Dawson disclosed that he was in touch with Ms. Bass by phone on Monday, as it became evident that wind speeds might hit 100 m.p.h. “That’s when, during conversations with the mayor, she said, ‘I’m coming home right away, as soon as I can get there,’” he remarked.

James Hahn, who served as mayor of Los Angeles from 2001 to 2005, was in Washington during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He was unable to return to Los Angeles for several days due to flight cancellations, yet he faced criticism for years for his absence from the city. This became a talking point for his opponents during his re-election campaign, which ultimately led to his defeat.

“There was no one who returned to the West Coast faster than I did,” Mr. Hahn stated in an interview. “I was on the first plane to take flight. It took 60 hours — I timed it — yet you would have thought I had been away for two weeks instead of two days.”

Mr. Hahn, now a judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Santa Monica, mentioned that the impression still persists. “To this day,” he remarked, “people believe I took my time returning to L.A.”

Mr. Hahn expressed that Mayor Bass’s response to the crisis was commendable. He highlighted that by the time she returned to the city, a state of emergency had already been proclaimed.

“This was an extraordinary event,” he commented. “People don’t want to acknowledge that, and I understand they’re suffering. People have lost everything. Lives have been lost. The initial reaction is, ‘Whose fault is this?’ Whereas I believe the first reaction should be, ‘How do we assist those who have lost everything?’”

Thomas Fuller and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs contributed reporting.