Karen Bass could be L.A.’s first female mayor. How important is milestone to Angelenos?
The new mayor of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times columnist Karen Bass, will be making history on Thursday when she becomes the first woman to serve as mayor of the city. Her victory, by a vote of 61 percent to 39 percent, could presage a new political cycle for the Los Angeles region. But some in Los Angeles say, that’s too negative.
And Karen Bass is the only one who can fix it.
Her candidacy was, and remains, driven by the idea that Los Angeles is on a path to become a more equitable and sustainable city. In a city plagued with its epicenter in the midsection of the city, Bass vowed to make Los Angeles the “metro capital of the world” by creating “a transportation system that’s equitable, a high-speed rail system that connects us all, where we get affordable housing and a livable rent for people of color where we can move here to make a difference.”
Bass’s victory, if it holds, will be a turning point on many fronts. She’ll bring a new level of leadership to the city, and the first woman mayor of Los Angeles.
But there will be plenty of people who will be disappointed to learn that L.A. will never be known as “Metro City.”
Bass won’t be the first to win the mayor’s race by a landslide. A handful of candidates — including the mayor’s mother, Jackie Robinson — have run for the office with the lowest percentage of the vote.
But in a city where the current mayor and council are both Democrats and where the mayor’s office is effectively run by the district attorney — and where the mayor is often criticized for not doing enough to get things accomplished — a woman becomes mayor represents something.
The idea that a woman can become the first female mayor of Los Angeles is not only a bold statement on the city’s political scene — it’s a bold statement on what is possible in Los Angeles, and what can be done.
“There are still so few women in politics,” said Barbara Lee, author of the book “City Hall
