Photos: Karen Bass elected as mayor, becoming first woman to lead L.A.
When Karen Bass moved into her L.A. home in February, it was a fresh start and new adventure.
She was greeted as a conquering hero in her city.
“It’s a beautiful city,” said Bass, 61, a native of Santa Barbara, Calif. “It was a big challenge for me to do it.”
Bass, the first woman to lead Los Angeles, was inaugurated May 1 as the city’s 53rd mayor. She is the city’s first Latino mayor and will finish the year as the city’s second-biggest elected official.
Bass will succeed Eric Garcetti, who resigned last July following a heated dispute with the city council over a police shooting that sparked a national controversy.
Garcetti, who had been Garcetti’s right-hand man during Garcetti’s two terms as mayor, spent the months leading up to the election trying to find a way to be more involved in decision-making. He hired a political strategist, Bob Ferguson, and a public relations consultant, Jeff Montgomery, who also worked for Garcetti. In the end Bass had Garcetti’s support.
She ran on a platform to bring Los Angeles back to the way it was before Garcetti came to power, by improving the city’s police and schools. She also pledged to clean up the trash and be environmentally conscious.
Bass’s opponent in the race was City Councilman Mike Bonin, who described herself as a “progressive liberal” who has been at odds with the Garcetti administration over the police shooting and police oversight.
Bonin, a former city councilman, was not a candidate to be the city’s next mayor.
Her time in office will begin this summer with a series of executive sessions before city officials from June to August to make long-term decisions about projects like the $3.1 billion Millennium City project and an $8 billion redevelopment of downtown L.A. The mayor’s office will oversee the L.A. school board, which has a new superintendent this fall.
“It’s not like a normal government,” Bass said. “We’ll
