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[ GELFAND'S WORLD ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/gelfand-s-world)
# Bass Should Fire Her Entire Staff
October 29 2026
Written by Bob Gelfand.
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GELFAND’S WORLD - It’s now a horse race in the contest to elect (or reelect) the mayor of Los Angeles. The take-home lesson for the mayor is that – if she manages to pull the rabbit out of the hat and squeak to a victory -- she should fire her entire staff, including the DWP commissioners and most of her Deputy Mayors. And while she’s at it, she should replace the majority of the Harbor Commission, considering how rudely they treat the residents of the areas around the port. The result of making all these inadequate appointments of inadequate performers is that voters react negatively when it’s time for reelection. It’s true that poor policy has also been a part of the mayor’s weak showing, but the way a candidate presents herself and avoids disastrously poor optics is always part of the game.
And her political performance has really been that bad.
How bad was it? In previous polls, Nithya Raman led Mayor Karen Bass by an easy 11 percentage points. In the latest poll, conducted over the past few days among slightly more than 2000 likely voters, the race was tied at 40 – 40. This one could go either way.
As the [Times Story](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-10-28/bass-comes-from-behind-now-in-dead-heat-with-raman-in-mayors-race-new-poll-shows) details, conservatives who voted for Spencer Pratt have been moving to Bass along with other groups such as people who live in the valley.
There are a couple of different ways to look at the situation. The first is that -- if the trend continues -- Bass should expect to win with a comfortable margin of maybe 3 to 5 percent. That argument is based on the simple notion that recent public support (from Rick Caruso among others) will continue to have an effect as voters make last minute decisions.
The alternative way of looking at things is to recognize that Karen Bass is a long, long way from being average in terms of the popularity you would expect to see in an incumbent mayor. Even an average mayor ought to be pulling 60 or 70 percent. Having 40% at this stage tells you something. The only question for Nithya Raman is whether there is some vast population of disaffected voters who are going to decide to cast a protest vote. Since the way the election is structured, which does not provide for casting a write-in vote, there is just one available protest vote and that is Raman.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
All of this having been said, I would like to suggest that there are a couple of lessons to be recognized about the way Bass has run her office and carried out her reelection campaign. Her current standing in the polls indicates profound errors in both of these.
Experienced politicians learn to get out in front of problems before they come back to bite. But take a look at how Bass and her appointees handled the rising electric bills this year. The increases were entirely predictable. How do we know that? Just read CityWatch or attend a session of the neighborhood council committee that meets directly with the DWP Rate Payers’ Advocate. They have been discussing DWP rates and management for more than a decade.
Combine the DWP billing structure with this year’s predictions for an extended heat wave, and the conclusion is obvious: People who suffered from valley heat were going to run their AC and thereby run up big bills. Somebody should have explained to the mayor that this was going to come down on her right before the election if she didn’t get out in front of it.
And there were lots of ways she could have gotten on top of the problem before it became a political liability. Here is one approach, which involves three simple steps: (1) Go on television and warn that an extended heat wave carries risks both to life and to family finances. (2) Agree to allow for delayed payments (what she actually did a few days ago). (3) Call for a review of the rate structure as it applies to heat wave electric usage.
These aren’t even the only possible remedies, but they would have reassured the public that their city government was at least aware of a problem.
Here is one more example. A couple of years ago, I left a phone message with a Deputy Mayor about a problem I was having, asking for a return call. I was expecting that somebody on the staff would call me back. I’m still waiting for that call. Such snubs are remembered by voters.
It’s not just optics. Poor policy is certainly a part of the show. It’s just that poor policies are not always obvious at the beginning. For example, the mayor’s approach to the homelessness problem turns out to be ineffective and expensive. I suspect that it is also inadequate in terms of human nature and basic neurology. But it has taken a while for the people of Los Angeles to recognize that there is something profoundly wrong with whatever it is that this administration is doing. It has also taken a while for the people to understand intuitively that what this administration is trying to do vs. what it is actually accomplishing are two very different things. In other words, lots of promises but little accomplishment.
Addendum
I’ve previously mentioned that television advertising on ballot initiatives never tells you what the initiative would actually do. I am reminded that Jack Humphreville’s voter guide published right here in CityWatch gives you the relevant information. In terms of how to vote, I disagree with Jack on one or two items. For example, I’m going to vote against Prop 39 on Voter ID. The argument is, I think, a little more complicated than is usually presented. I can buy into some form of universal ID, but it ought to be part of a negotiation which outlaws voter suppression and deals with gerrymandering. I agree with Jack and many others in a No vote on Prop 38, and I find that No votes on every proposition from 40 through 45 are justified. How we might deal with the economic friction created by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is another complicated problem that ought to be treated openly and transparently, but the overall virtue of having CEQA should not be in doubt.
*(**Bob Gelfand** writes on science, culture, and politics for CityWatch. He can be reached at )*
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