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CONGRATULATIONS TO KAREN BASS: LA’S FIRST FEMALE MAYOR
CONGRATULATIONS TO KAREN BASS
LA’S FIRST FEMALE MAYOR
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By Michael P Coleman, Freelance Writer
Readers of a certain age will remember a popular television ad campaign that dominated airwaves, announcing that women could do it all. The women’s rights movement was in full swing at the time, and women were taking no prisoners on their way to the top of professions across the board. The TV spot’s legendary tagline was “I’m a woman!” The year was 1979.
In 2023, in Los Angeles, Mayor elect Karen Bass is the personification of the promise of those ads. At 69 years old, she has become the first woman elected mayor of Los Angeles in the city’s 241-year history, and only the second African American to win the mayor’s seat. After a contentious campaign, Bass defeated a billionaire developer who had waged the most expensive campaign in the city’s history. He outspent the six-term congresswoman and former state lawmaker 10-1, tossing over $100 million of his personal finances down the political drain in his effort to defeat her. In doing so, Bass’ opponent shattered local advertising and outreach spending records. At the end of the day, dollars spent during the campaign just didn’t matter. Bass brought all of the power and force that women wield every day to what would be the political fight of her life — to-date, at least. She countered the billionaire’s fortune with a strategy that, in retrospect, seems somewhat innocuous: she marshaled her broad volunteer networks across the city, and simply got more people to the polls. In doing so, Bass earned more than 53 percent of the vote as she sent the billionaire packing. “The people of Los Angeles have sent a clear message,” Bass said in a statement issued just after the Associated Press called her victory. “It is time for change and it is time for urgency.” In a bit of glorious karma, Vice President Kamala Harris, the nation’s first black person and first woman to hold that office, swore Bass in as mayor of LA in December. Bass joins an increasingly female group of local leaders, including the county’s woman-dominated Board of Supervisors and the city’s first female city attorney.
Bass said in an interview that she welcomed the chance to work with so many women in powerful, visible positions.
Bass’ Beginnings Bass Looks Ahead
A former physician assistant, Bass started her political career as a community activist in South Los Angeles, after watching the crack epidemic decimate black and brown communities in the 1980s. In 1990, she co-founded Community Coalition, a non-profit charged with unifying South Los Angeles communities against crime and poverty. In 2008, Bass became the first Black woman in the nation to lead a state legislative body when she was named Speaker of the House of Representatives. Colleagues have long been aware of Bass’ leadership acumen and, perhaps presciently, of changes that were to come in the mayor’s office. “I’ve always believed that an individual best suited to be the next mayor has to be someone who’s engaged in bridging the racial divide, connecting communities and building coalitions,” former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in an interview. He helped Bass launch Community Coalition, and has known her for over three decades. Villaraigosa wasn’t alone in seeing Bass’ greatness. Fabian Nuñez, who preceded Bass as California’s House Speaker, talked about the new mayor’s “… almost shy, quiet way…” of leading. “She didn’t really demand that kind of attention,” Nuñez recently said of Bass, “but through her work, very quietly, [she] was a powerful force and people were drawn to her.” Bass is well versed at rolling up her sleeves in the face of adversity. One of her daughters Emilia BassLechuga and son-in-law Michael Wright died over a decade ago in a car accident.
“Karen continues to be inspired by Emilia and Michael’s passion for life,” according to Bass’ campaign bio. In the wake of George Floyd’s lynching, Bass co-authored a legislative package designed to overhaul law enforcement policies. Then Vice President Joe Biden took notice, before placing her on his shortlist of Vice Presidential candidates. It will take a person of Bass’ mettle to get the job done as mayor of a city of over four million people. She’s working with a 15-member City Council that could easily sidetrack progress toward her goals, while also working with a county Board of Supervisors and an THESE ARE GENERAL STATEMENTS… BUT WOMEN ARE MORE COLLABORATIVE. WOMEN ARE NOT AS independent public school board. As she leads a city in the largest metropolis in the country, Bass also works with several leaders of autonomous city governments. TRANSACTIONAL. I THINK Bass has hit the ground running, WOMEN TEND TO LEAD taking on a city with residents DIFFERENTLY. exhausted and angered by racial tensions and weary from homelessness. She has pledged to find housing for its 17,000 people experiencing homelessness in her first year. “Together, we will make Los Angeles more livable for all and build a City Hall that works for everyone,” Bass said. At her December swearing in event, Bass was on fire. “Making history with each of you today is a monumental moment in my life and in Los Angeles. I call on our city to not just dream of the L.A. we want, but to participate in making the dream come true.” Congratulations Mayor Karen Bass! We’ll be watching, and we’ve got your back! n
