Ousted Fire Chief Crowley Loses Her Appeal In Contentious Hearing

LOS ANGELES, CA — In a contentious and emotional hearing, the L.A. City Council voted 13-2 Tuesday to deny former Fire Chief Kristin Crowley's appeal, supporting Mayor Karen Bass' decision to terminate her as head of the Los Angeles Fire Department following January's wildfires.

Former Fire Chief Kristin Crowley appealed her termination Tuesday to the Los Angeles City Council after Mayor Karen Bass fired her as head of the Fire Department and cast blame for failures during the wildfire on the mayor.

Crowley said Mayor Karen Bass made "multiple false accusations" against her in announcing her termination. She denied that she refused to conduct an after-action report on the Palisades Fire and did not "send home" 1,000 firefighters on the day of the fire, saying "we did not have enough apparatus to put them on."

She blamed the shortfall on a lack of funding for maintenance that left more than 100 trucks and other vehicles inoperable in a maintenance yard. She also denied that the mayor was not informed about severe winds that were forecast on Jan. 7, noting that the mayor's office itself issued "multiple messages" to the public warning about the wind conditions.

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On Thursday, Crowley announced she would appeal in an email sent to City Council members. Under the city charter, Crowley would need the support of 10 of the 15 council members to be reinstated as chief.

Four council members stood alongside Bass last Friday at a news conference announcing Crowley's ouster -- Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and members Curren Price, Hugo Soto- Martinez and Adrin Nazarian. Councilman Bob Blumenfield has also publicly come out in favor of Bass' decision.

At least two council members -- Monica Rodriguez and Traci Park -- have spoken out against Crowley's firing and encouraged her to appeal the decision.

Asked about Crowley's decision Thursday, Bass spokesman Zach Seidl said, "Former Chief Crowley has the right to appeal her dismissal."

Hours after receiving the notice of appeal, the City Council originally scheduled a special meeting for 5 p.m. Friday at Van Nuys City Hall to consider the appeal.

However, late Thursday night, Harris-Dawson's office announced that the Friday special meeting had been canceled, and that Crowley's appeal would be taken up Tuesday at 10 a.m. at L.A. City Hall, during the council's regularly scheduled meeting.

"While it is in the city's best interest to hear this matter expeditiously, it is also important to allow the appellant, interested parties, and Councilmembers to be present and prepared for the meeting," Harris- Dawson's spokeswoman, Rhonda Mitchell, said in a statement. "This matter will be heard in City Council on Tuesday, March 4, at 10 a.m."

In her decision to fire Crowley, Bass cited what she called various failures in leadership ahead of the January windstorm that led to the deadly Palisades Fire, as well as what Bass said was Crowley's refusal to prepare an after-action report on the firefight. She also said Crowley had failed to give her a weather update prior to the historic windstorm as she had done for other potentially dangerous weather events -- despite such warnings being widely publicized in the days ahead of the Jan. 7 event that sparked the Palisades and Eaton fires, and several other wildfires in the area. Bass also questioned a failure to deploy about 1,000 firefighters the morning of the dramatic Santa Ana wind event.

Crowley issued a statement over the weekend, saying, "As a humble public servant for over the past 30 years, 25 of those with the LAFD, it has been an absolute honor to represent and lead the men and women of one of the greatest fire departments in the world. As the Fire Chief, I based my actions and decisions on taking care of our firefighters so that they could take care of our communities. Serving others before self, having the courage and integrity to do what is right, and leading with compassion, love and respect have guided me throughout my career. I am extremely proud of the work, sacrifice and dedication of our LAFD members, both sworn and civilian."

Bass has come under criticism for the handling of the wildfire, in particular because the mayor went on a diplomatic trip to Ghana days before the fires erupted despite the warnings about anticipated severe wind and fire- danger conditions.

Tensions with Crowley increased upon Bass' return to the city when Crowley made public comments critical of what she described as the city's under- funding of the LAFD. That led to a one-on-one closed door meeting between the pair, but no punitive actions were taken against Crowley at the time.

The union that represents LAFD firefighters -- United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112 -- has stood firmly behind Crowley.

"We are outraged at the termination of Fire Chief Crowley," UFLAC President Freddie Escobar said last week. "In our opinion, Crowley is being made a scapegoat and she's being terminated for telling the truth."

After her firing, Crowley exercised her civil service right to remain with the LAFD at a lower rank in a different position, which was to be determined by interim LAFD Chief Ronnie Villanueva.

City News Service