In short, is Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass doing enough to rebuild from the blazes? But they are, in another important sense, opposite, in that the Palisades lie within the mayor’s jurisdiction and the Eaton fire outside it. The devastating damage to two areas with different political structures proves that political leadership was not to blame. Wind and brush are forces of nature, not politics, and absolve Bass of responsibility for the fires. The city’s fire chief was quick to distance herself from the fire’s devastation, laying blame on others before being fired by Bass last year.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 08, 2026 13:53 UTC