Justice in Action: Karen Bass & The Future of Los Angeles | Mick Unplugged podcast

A lot was said in the media about what went down in LA this summer. Today's episode, we are talking to my shero, Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, and we're going to get the truth, but we're also going to get her insights on what true leadership really means and the things that she's done and turned around in Los Angeles. I promise you, you are in for a treat. This is my shera, Mayor Karen Bass. Mayor Bass, how are you doing today, dear?

I'm doing just fine. Thank you so much for that kind introduction.

No, I thank you. And I was telling you offline just what you mean to me for what you have done, not even just for the city of Los Angeles, but for people across the world that you probably don't know, that you've touched. But you've been a voice for the voiceless, a face for the faceless. You've been a fighter for those who couldn't fight for themselves. And I think not just me, but I think everyone that's listening and watching just wants to say thank you. And you know, Mayor Bass, I love starting off my episodes with that question of what is your because? That thing that's deeper than your why? And so if I were to say, Mayor Bass, like, why do you do what you do? Why do you give what you give? Why do you fight the way that you fight? What's your because?

Well, I love that question because it definitely defines my life. I grew up as a kid, couldn't wait to be an adult so I could get out in the world and fight for justice. It has defined me. And I think it's really about the time period in which I grew up, which grew up watching the Civil Rights movement on TV as a child and listening to my father explain what life in the south was like. My mother was born in Los Angeles. Very different, considering it was years and years before the big migration after World War II. And so I just always wanted to devote my life to fighting for justice. To me, our country offered all of the opportunities in the world with all of the capacity, all of the resources, all of the wealth. And I've never understood why certain sectors of our population had to suffer, had to suffer economically, had to face gross injustice. And so to me, when you're in the land that has everything, why can't that be shared? And that has defined my life and never, ever thought about running for office. But when I did decide to take that step, it was with the same values and, frankly, the same issues in mind.

I love that. And speaking for or speaking about running for office. What was that moment that led to you saying, I need to lead the city, not just fight for the city, because it's different.

Right.

Than saying, I need to lead the city. What was that moment for you?

Well, you know, it really involved flashbacks to the 1990s. And I was at. For me, where I am now is full circle to where I started 35 years ago when I started Community Coalition in 1990. And those years were characterized by a terrible epidemic in the African American community. It was the epidemic of crack cocaine and gang violence. And elected officials, policymakers, the only response they had was to sentence young people, was what eventually we would call mass incarceration. When it was happening, we didn't call it that, but I certainly knew that it was the wrong way to go, that crack cocaine was a health crisis, it was an economic crisis, and it was a crisis of divestment from the social safety net and all three of those converging. And we had a thousand homicides in our city. We had people dying from crack. Same time the crack epidemic happened, that's when AIDS exploded as well. And it wasn't called HIV then, it was aids. And so what I tell younger people who don't remember that time period, to visualize it, think about COVID affecting one population. And that's the way it felt like it was the desperation and the fear. And that led to me leaving a very comfortable faculty position at USC Medical School, going to the center of the crisis, and starting an organization to try to shift the debate away from criminalization to a more comprehensive approach. And so the way the homeless problem exploded in our city, I had flashbacks to the 1990s where the population of Los Angeles was angry and had tried to tax themselves twice, and the problem just got worse.

And.

And I saw us headed down criminalization road again, and I felt like I, you know, I mean, I loved being in Congress because it was an opportunity for me to work on domestic as well as international issues, which was always a love of mine. But to come home because I couldn't sit in my comfortable position in Congress and watch the city go backwards. And it's the same thing. I thought when I was at the university, I couldn't stay in my comfortable position where when I saw South LA going downhill, and at the time I was leading an anti apartheid organization and we were fighting for the freedom of Nelson Mandela, and I'm like, well, okay, that's a noble thing to do, but that's on the other side of the world. Fortunately, though, it coincided with Nelson Mandela becoming liberated and apartheid ending. And I said, I have to turn my focus to the domestic issue. I had to leave my faculty position and jump into trying to solve that problem. So my motivation in everything that I've done has really been the same. It's the same issues I've been pursuing. It's the same motivation. So coming from a city like Los Angeles, again, it has everything in the world to offer. We have so much wealth and opportunity in the city, and for a segment of the city to not be able to access that, it's the same problem of injustice in the world of plenty. And so that's what led me to wanting to lead the city at this point in time.

And an amazing leader you are, and I know you're humble, so I'm going to brag for you, right? Since Mayor Bass has been in office, homicides decrease. Violent crimes decrease. Gang violence decreasing. I was in LA just at the end of June, rode through the city. It looks clean. You know, some of the potholes are no longer there. We've got graffiti that's been clean and it feels warm and inviting. The city of Los Angeles that was there in the 50s and 60s is starting to show itself again. And so I want to give you kudos for that. But then I want to ask the question of what were the first steps? How did you get people to unite to believe in these things, the visions that you have to turn it around because, hey, Mayor bash, you're the 43rd mayor, right? A lot of people have talked about wanting to do these things. You've actually started to do them. So kudos. But how'd you get people to rally behind you?

Thank you. I appreciate that. Well, it was most important that we address the crisis that was facing Los Angeles. So the day that I was sworn in, the next day, instead of going to City Hall, I went to our emergency operations center and I declared the city to be in a state of emergency. And that state of emergency was over the fact that we had 40 plus thousand people on our streets. And we set out a campaign to reduce the number of people who are living on the street, street homelessness, to address that situation and to involve people in the process. And I think one of the most important things that we were able to do was disprove the notion that people were on those streets willingly and didn't want to leave the streets. By the way, I must say to you that the African American population of Los Angeles is 9%. That's 9% out of 3.8 million people. But when it comes to who is unhoused, we are over 30% of the people living on the streets. Los Angeles is about 50% Latino, and about 40% of the people on the streets are Latino. So you are talking about an African American and Latino problem. 74% of the people. And so bringing the communities together to say that we have to solve this problem was critically important. Now, I do believe we have a long way to go. We have reduced homelessness for the first time, second year in a row. And so I think, to me, we have a clear pathway out of this. I don't think that that was done before in the sense that in my opinion, the city nor the county was committed to ending homelessness. They were committed to managing it. And I think somewhere in somebody's mind they thought it would eventually go away. And of course, what happened was that we were trying to address homelessness in the 90s as well, but nobody really cared about it because it only impacted skid row and South Central. The minute it hit citywide and even spilling over into communities that were middle class, upper middle class and affluent, then it became a real crisis. And so trying to utilize the fact that the city felt it was a full crisis, but a punitive approach was just not going to win. It was not going to produce. We tried that in the 90s. And one thing I think about our American culture is that we tend to be very ahistorical. Even what's happening right now with this administration. We act like it's an anomaly, and nothing like this has ever happened before. In fact, it's very important to know history so you can learn from it. And I felt like we had forgotten the history of the 90s. I didn't want to see that repeated. And then, of course, when we were attacked by this administration, that served as a unifying factor in our city. And our city is standing together, standing strong with one clear voice that what is happening in our city from the federal government is unacceptable.

And I want to go there because again, I told you, you're my shero. And when we saw what was happening, you boldly, powerfully, and in a very dignified manner stood up for Los Angeles and seeing it from afar, right? I live in South Carolina, but seeing it from afar. I don't know if I've ever been so proud of something in recent history than you standing tall for Los Angeles. Talk about the courage and the commitment that that takes. Right? Because I don't think a lot of people understand, truthfully, the brevity of that, the gravity of that, the depth of just that moment, you had to make a decision and you had to make it right then. And then you had to live with that decision. So talk about that a little bit because.

Well, and to be honest, I could applaud you. Thank you. And to be honest with you, I think in moments like that you, you just act because it was such a gross injustice. I mean, to see troops parading through a park like that. And, you know, and that's a park that has been troubled for a long time. I mean, we went through a mass shooting there. We went through, you know, drug dealing and trafficking and all of that. And we were making serious headway in cleaning up. And it had, we had reduced violence in that area by, you know, a big percentage. And so things were getting better. Still having problems. One side of the park, there's a lot of drug use that's going on. But when they invaded the park, they invaded it and it's a huge park. They were all the way on the other side of the park where there was a children's summer camp. And so the kids had to be ushered inside so that they didn't see the horses and the tanks rolling in and, you know, taking it out of their view. And so for me, in the moment, it was, I have to get out and find out who's in charge of this. So it was a no brainer in that sense and to talk to them and to tell them, what are you guys doing? What are you doing? What's your purpose here? And it was clearly just a show of force. There was, they had no mission, they had no goal in mind. They just came in, marched the horses and the guns through the park and then left and, and, and threatened people. There were community based organizations there attempting to provide health services. And on the other side of the park, they, at gunpoint, made them take their tables down and leave. What was the purpose of that? They were trying to help the people who were in trouble. But they paraded with the horses and the guns through where the children were. So, you know, that performance that has been going on in this city. I listened to the President just this morning talk about how he saved the day. There was nothing to save here. We were fine. June 5, the day before the raids happened, there was nothing happening here. This city was calm. Chaos started when they started it.

Amen to that. And you know, I told you that I was out there in June. And so the national media, with LA being the market that it is, right? The national media I would say sometimes, but I would say most of the times doesn't depict reality.

Right, right.

Like, the stories that show are the stories that sell.

Right.

And so I'm on a flight headed to Los Angeles, and I land. We're taxiing in, and I have probably 40 messages from family and friends, and they're like, hey, be careful. LA might be shutting down. The news is saying that, you know, there's protesting and there's violence and there's chaos and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I get in the car and I'm driving to my hotel, and it is peaceful, right? It is like a normal day in Los Angeles. And I'm like, wait a second, what is going on? And then there's this one little bitty section, one corner, one corner. And it's not even protests. It's just people gathering. But it's all people. It's people. It's brown, it's black, it's white, it's Asian. Like, all people are there supporting the city in a very peaceful, calm manner. And so I didn't call everyone back, but I called a handful back and said, turn the TV off. This is not what's going on. Change the channel. Mayor Bass has this very much under control. Nothing that you see there. But how do you deal with that as the mayor of a city like Los Angeles? Top two, three largest cities from a media perspective in the world, not just the United States, but in the world, how do you deal with that?

Right. And that is very troubling. You know, it's very important to get out. And I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today is to tell the truth about what is happening. And so I did spend a fair amount of time doing press conferences and getting in the media and saying this. Los Angeles is 500 square feet. The protests happened in about one square foot, about four blocks. And they were relatively peaceful, as happens often in big mass protests. At the end, you will have some stragglers who will vandalize property in the form of graffiti and maybe even commit some violent acts, like setting Waymos on fire. It does not characterize the vast majority of protesters. That typically happens at the end. And the Los Angeles Police Department, the Sheriff Department, and the other surrounding cities were more than capable of addressing that. I imposed a curfew because the protest went on for a few nights in a row, and since then, there has been no problem at all. Now, what the President did. The protest started on Saturday. What the President did is that he said that he was able to bring calm to the city by bringing the National Guard here on Saturday. The National Guard didn't even arrive until Sunday. Their sole mission was to stand in front of two federal buildings. They were never involved in crowd control. They never played a role in bringing peace to the city. And we have a situation in our country now where truth and science are basically, opinions have been devolved into opinions. And so I was listening to him this morning talking about how what was happening in the Palisades, no permits were issued and all of these other things. The water in central California, I mean, just utter, utter nonsense stuff that is not even. It's not an exaggeration or an embellishment. It is 100% fiction. But you can do that now and it can be carried as news, whereas in the past it wouldn't even be carried because it was so absurd. So I think it's been very important that I constantly am out communicating what is real and essentially painting the picture of this is Los Angeles, 500 square miles, 1 square mile, where there's protest.

And here's what I want the viewers and listeners to also understand about cities like Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Oakland, Chicago. There's protests that happen every day.

Exactly every day.

I don't think. I've never been to la and there hasn't been a protest. I haven't been to Oakland and there hasn't been a protest. My wife is from Oakland. So there's always protests going on.

Right? Right.

But when you blow them out of proportion, when you make something bigger than it is for your personal gain, that's where bad happens. That's where stigmatism, stigmatism happens. And those are the things that as society, we've got to be able to learn fiction from facts and truths and really understand. So again, I want to applaud you even more for that. And I want to take a moment because this is something that's dear to me because I'm very much in touch with my hometown, where I live in Greenville, South Carolina. I tell business leaders all the time and community leaders, get involved with your local city government. Be a voice, be a face, be someone that your local council can depend on, can be there, go to meetings and hear the issues. Because a lot of times, again with media, and this is before social media was a thing, just from all the time of me growing up, you don't know everything that's happening. But you hear me growing up when the newspaper says something or when the 10 o' clock news says something, Right? And it's not the truth, but you can hear what's going on by being involved? Why and how important is it for business leaders, entrepreneurs, to be involved with the city government to attend some of these meetings so they can hear the actual issues, but versus perceived issues, right?

Absolutely. But, you know, that's a two way street. And so it's my responsibility also to reach out and to be inclusive and to not develop policies without bringing the people who are most impacted by those policies to the table and to develop the policies in collaboration with each other. And I think that goes, you know, across the board, the business community, but also a neighborhood association on all levels. When you involve people, when you collaborate, when you build coalitions, that's the way you bring about true and lasting change versus imposing change and forcing change on a population that is not in the same place where you are. And I think that that's a critical factor. The challenge of today is one, there's incredible opportunities to communicate, which is why I appreciate this opportunity. But on the other hand, there is so much no. That people can easily be confused by all of the information that is put out there, because you don't really have a way, unless you're really attentive to distinguish fact from fiction. You need to do your homework a little bit to see that Los Angeles is 500 square miles and what took place happened in one square mile. You need to do a little bit of work versus just look at the pictures of one area and assume that that spanned it and impacted a population of almost 4 million.

Absolutely. Mayor Bass, how do you stay grounded as a leader? Right. How do you stay connected to your values and who you are on a daily basis?

Well, by staying connected to the people and by never isolating myself, you know, in the ivory tower of City Hall. And I believe that when I was in Congress, and I believe that when I was in Sacramento, I have always maintained strong ties within the community so that my purpose is never confused. But, you know, when times are hard, I do look to history. I mean, I'll never forget, by the way, when Trump was first elected and we were all so traumatized. You remember that time? I mean, just in disbelief for a while. And I remember going to the African American Museum and spending three hours in the basement reading every exhibit, watching every video about what happened during the time period of enslavement. And you just think about all that the African American population has been through, and it's like, how dare I not fight? Yeah. You know, because I don't care how hard we're having it today. Nothing, nothing compares to prior Moments in our history, whether you were talking enslavement, Jim Crow, which I also called apartheid, US Apartheid, because, you know, the South African regime, when they were setting up apartheid in the early part of the last century, they came to the south to study what was happening in your state and in other states to set up their system. And I think about all of the fights we've had to get where we are today, and that, to me, fills me up with encouragement and inspiration and dedication.

I love it. Mayor Bass, one of the other things that I admire probably most about you is as a leader, you face resistance, you face challenges, you face systemic issues, but you always turn obstacles into opportunities. And I would love for you to give the viewers and listeners a little bit of your. I don't want to say your system, your process, but how do you continue to overcome as much as you do and how you have.

Well, a big believer in keeping my eyes on the prize and never getting confused by that. And so if this is why I ran, number one, is to address the gross inequity in this city, again, one of the wealthiest cities in the world. But the income inequality is so vast that the most extreme example of that is homelessness. But you also have, you know, multiple families living in an apartment because they can't afford rent on one income or even on two incomes. And. And to me, staying focused and not letting the noise distract me, that has been very, very important. And it's difficult. I don't want to paint it as it's. As it's easy. It isn't, you know, when you're under attack from every level, when you hear the president of the United States call your name in the Oval Office and basically wholesale lie about you and know that that's going to be covered on a network repeatedly, and that the people that watch that network will not have any other information. It's not that it is easy, but I think it's always important to keep your eyes on the prize and keep in touch with the people who you're trying to impact.

Amen to that. Amen to that. Mayor Bass, I know you have a very busy schedule, and I'm just honored you took some time out of your day today to spend with me. I want to leave it with you. Is there anything that you want the viewers and listeners to know, anything at all that's on your heart that you want to share?

Well, yes. Let me just say that we've talked about challenges that we faced in Los Angeles, and I would love to spend a minute talking about the unbelievable opportunities facing our city as we are always on the world stage. But we will be on the world stage in a major way with a number of events coming up. Beginning in February of next year, the All Star Basketball Game. In May, we have the US Open for Golf for Women. In June, we have the World Cup. Eight games will be played in our area here. In 2027, we have the Super Bowl. And in 2028 is the big prize. We have the Olympics and the Paralympics. It'll be the first time Los Angeles hosts the Paralympics and It'll be the third time we host the Olympics. 1932, 1984 and 2028. We will be only. Well, we will be one of three cities in the world who have hosted the Olympic Games for the third time. So we have so much opportunity, so much to be excited and thankful for, and Los Angeles will be ready to, to take advantage of those opportunities. But here's where my values and the through line of justice goes all the way up until 2028 in the sense that we want to make sure that each and every one of these incredible events that are going to come our way benefit all of our city. We want the world to know that Los Angeles is more than the beach, Beverly Hills and Hollywood, but Los Angeles is East LA and South LA and the San Fernando Valley. And everyone in the world lives here. We are one of the most diverse cities on the planet and we want, when the world comes to visit, that they know that in just about every country that will arrive here, their diaspora lives here as well. The other thing is, is that I am so encouraged by, in the face of tremendous attacks from the federal government, that our city is unified, has stood strong, is of one mind, and nothing that has happened on the federal level has divided our city. So I'm proud of that. I look forward to the future and I look forward to you coming back to LA and seeing even more improvements. The only thing is, the next time you come to town, you got to let me know, come to City Hall.

I will totally let you know. I will be there sooner than you think.

Good.

For, for various reasons, but I'm trying to make LA my second city good again. I live in the South. Hey, I. I will be there. And, and I mean this, I'm not even going to say this offline. I'm going to say it directly and keep it in the recording. If there's anything I can do for you, if there's anything I can do for the city of Los Angeles, do not ask me. You just tell me and consider it done or me there. And that's my promise to you. And that's my promise to the city of Los Angeles.

Well, thank you so much for that. And thank you for the opportunity to speak with your audience today. I really appreciate it. It's all about communication.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you, Mayor Bass. And for the viewers and listeners, remember your because is your superpower go unleash.