Endorsement: Karen Bass for Los Angeles mayor
If you’re unfamiliar with Los Angeles, you’re not alone. In fact, there’s a lot about living here you may not know. And a lot you probably don’t care to know.
That’s probably because the city and its residents aren’t super-famous, nor are they usually portrayed as such. And yet, this little beach town, tucked in between the Pacific Ocean and the San Gabriel Mountains, is known the world over for its many cultural treasures, a wide-open, friendly community where everyone wants to get along. And that’s not just a nice phrase, either: That’s how Los Angeles feels.
That’s why Karen Bass, a former San Francisco supervisor and mayor of the city she loved, made a bold choice and endorsed Mayor Eric Garcetti for a second term.
“I’m committed to Los Angeles,” says Bass, who represented the city in the state legislature from 1993 to 1996. “I grew up here — I grew up in West Adams, and I’m a native Angeleno.”
She adds: “There’s always been a sense of optimism in this city. The sense that we have an unlimited capacity to do our best and to make this city a better place — it’s there. There’s a willingness to change, and I always have been really impressed with the strength of the local voter base. That’s what we should be embracing.”
But Bass isn’t the only longtime L.A. resident behind the mayor’s campaign for a second term. In fact, four other candidates, including former state Sen. John Burton and businessman Eric Garcetti — in addition to Bass — have endorsed Garcetti’s election.
And it’s one of the biggest endorsements in L.A. history.
No, this ain’t about a local radio-broadcast personality endorsing the mayor. It’s much more serious.
When Bass announced her endorsement in October — a press release touted her and her husband, Mike, as being a “longtime L.A. family” — she noted how she had “been inspired by this city and what it has become.”
“We have a city