LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Kristin Crowley, who was fired by Mayor Karen Bass as chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department last week, notified the city Thursday she is appealing her termination to the Los Angeles City Council — and the council is set to take up the appeal this coming Tuesday.
Crowley announced her appeal decision in an email sent to City Council members Thursday afternoon. In a statement, she said, “Today I notified the City Council of my appeal as provided for in Los Angeles Charter, Article V, Section 5.08(e), due to Mayor Bass’ removal of me on February 21, 2025, from the position of Fire Chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department.”
Under the city charter, Crowley would need the support of 10 of the council’s 15 members to be reinstated as chief.
That could be a difficult number to reach. 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. The council periodically holds its regular meetings there instead of at L.A. City Hall, and Friday is one of those occasions, with the council scheduled to hold a regular meeting there at 10 a.m.
However, late Thursday night, Harris-Dawson’s office announced that the Friday special meeting had been canceled, and that Crowley’s appeal will now 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 4th, at 10:00 a.m.”
In announcing the firing last week, 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. Bass said she would normally receive a call from the fire chief about the approach of severe fire conditions, but did not receive any such notification in January.
Questions have also been raised about a key water reservoir that was out of service for repairs for months prior to and then during the Palisades Fire, leading to a drop in water pressure in portions of Pacific Palisades, and concerns about inoperable fire hydrants across the city.
The mayor emphasized that further investigations into the water pressure will be examined in a probe ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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.”
Escobar refuted Bass’ claim that Crowley refused to conduct an after- action report. He contended that Crowley told the Fire Commission that the commission was the “wrong arena” for an investigation. An investigation into the handling of the fire was instead being conducted — with the assistance of LAFD — by the Fire Safety Research Institute. This independent organization was authorized by Newsom to analyze the totality of the multiple fires that erupted in the L.A. region and what issues contributed to the disaster.
Escobar also challenged comments made by Bass regarding the LAFD’s pre- deployment model and her FY 2024-25 budget.
“What she didn’t say is — there weren’t enough resources. I worked there at the command post that night. I was here in Los Angeles. … We had more members willing to participate than we had seats to put those members in because we didn’t have enough engines or trucks,” Escobar said.
Bass and City Council members have defended the spending plan — insisting that the LAFD received an increase in funding in each of the past two years. But Escobar and Crowley contended the operational budget was reduced as well as overtime hours and civilian positions such as mechanics — staff needed to repair and fix fire trucks and other vehicles.
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.
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