How Incompetence Lead to the Burning of the City of Angels

The devastating wildfires sweeping through Los Angeles are a glaring example of how mismanagement and misplaced priorities can leave communities vulnerable. From a Texan’s perspective, it’s hard to understand how a city with such a long history of wildfires could find itself so unprepared. Yet, Mayor Karen Bass’s decision to cut the fire department’s budget earlier this year—while handing out costly deals to public employee unions—seems to have done just that.

Bass, who took office in late 2022, narrowly defeated real estate developer Rick Caruso. Caruso, a businessman with experience managing the city’s Department of Water and Power, ran on fixing the economy and improving public safety—issues that resonate deeply with Texans. But Los Angeles voters instead leaned toward Bass, prioritizing coalition-building and climate change. Shortly after taking office, Bass negotiated new contracts with city employee unions, granting wage increases of up to 25% over five years, raising the city’s minimum wage to $25 an hour, and offering generous perks like cashing out unused sick time at retirement. The total bill? A staggering $3.5 billion over the life of these contracts, plus another $1 billion for police union agreements.

For anyone who’s watched a budget before, the warnings were obvious. Critics pointed out that similar deals in 2007 had blown a hole in the city’s finances, leading to job cuts and reductions in basic services during the 2008 economic crash. This time, it didn’t take long for those fears to come true. The city faced mounting costs from lawsuits over unsafe infrastructure, like broken sidewalks and poor streetlighting, as well as settlements against the police. With reserves already depleted, the city council teetered on the edge of declaring a fiscal emergency. Bass responded with cuts, reducing the overall budget to $12.9 billion from $13.1 billion. Among the deepest reductions? A $17.6 million cut to the fire department.

Even the Los Angeles Times called the crisis “self-inflicted,” noting that the city’s overspending on employee perks left little room for critical investments in infrastructure or emergency services. And these union negotiations weren’t even conducted in the open—most of the discussions happened behind closed doors, with the public only learning the full cost once the deals were finalized.

Now, with fires tearing through Hollywood and surrounding areas, questions about California’s broader failures are front and center again. Texans know the value of water infrastructure and fire mitigation, yet California has resisted investing in water-storage capacity or adopting land-management practices that could reduce fire risk. The state’s water systems, long criticized for inefficiency, have even left some neighborhoods dry during the current fires—a glaring failure that Caruso warned about during his campaign.

In Texas, we prepare for disasters. Whether it’s hurricanes, flooding, or wildfires, you don’t gamble with public safety. It’s not hard to see the disconnect here: while Los Angeles burned, priorities were misplaced on wage hikes and benefits instead of making sure first responders had the resources they needed. It’s a stark contrast to the Texan way of thinking, where pragmatism and preparation take precedence over political posturing.

Wildfires are nothing new in California, but the city’s lack of readiness this time around is beyond frustrating. Texans might not agree on everything, but one thing’s for sure—we don’t play games with people’s safety. You can’t manage a crisis when your fire department is underfunded, and that’s a lesson Los Angeles is learning the hard way.