Letters to the Editor: Voters should give Mayor Bass credit for L.A.’s lowered crime rates
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To the editor: Shelby Grad has written an engaging and nuanced analysis of the mayor’s race in which he presents the four things he thinks will determine the election’s outcome (“Is Bass flailing? Is Raman for real? 4 things that could decide L.A. mayor’s race,” Sept. 15). Being an experienced journalist and, of course, deputy managing editor of the Los Angeles Times, Grad probably has a lot to say about the coverage. Permit me then to offer a fifth factor that could determine the election’s result.
Namely, will voters give Mayor Karen Bass the credit — credit I believe she deserves — for the city’s extraordinarily low crime rates? For example, the number of homicides has dropped to 1966 levels, when Los Angeles’ population was around 2.6 million. Today, almost 4 million people live in Los Angeles.
Bass appointed a great chief of police, Jim McDonnell. She fought consistently to maintain the size of the police force. Also, long before Bass got into politics, she founded the Community Coalition, which has improved people’s lives in underserved, low-income communities.
Rick Tuttle, Culver City
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To the editor: Mayor Bass made earlier mistakes that contributed to her poor polling (“Raman’s polling lead puts pressure on Bass to win undecided voters – and go negative,” Sept. 24). First, lacking experience at City Hall, she seemingly assumed the city was already well-managed. She didn’t exert strong leadership to remedy the shortcomings at the fire, housing, streets and other departments. Bass spent heavily on the Convention Center expansion and police pay raises, and then asked residential property owners to approve higher taxes for street lighting. And to fend off conservative challengers, Bass triangulated and embraced the police union and the corporate establishment.
With a distinguished 40-plus years in public life, progressive until recently, Bass should not pivot to a right-wing campaign against Nithya Raman. That not only would fail miserably, but also would destroy her legacy with many liberals and progressives, like myself, who have long admired her.
Mark Masaoka, Los Angeles
