Kristen Crowley, the previous chief of the Los Angeles Hearth Division ousted from her place earlier this yr, filed a authorized declare towards town and Mayor Karen Bass, accusing the mayor of orchestrating “a marketing campaign of misinformation, defamation, and retaliation” and utilizing Crowley as a “scapegoat” to shift blame after the devastating fires in January.
A precursor to a lawsuit, Crowley’s declare seeks unspecified damages above $25,000 for misplaced wages and advantages, emotional misery, and reputational damages. Within the 23-page submitting obtained by Rolling Stone, Crowley alleges that she repeatedly warned of the LAFD’s worsening useful resource and staffing disaster, and submitted experiences detailing how getting old infrastructure, surging emergency calls, and shrinking workers had put Los Angeles in danger. Regardless of these warnings, the submitting alleges, Mayor Bass and her administration lower the hearth division’s working price range by $17.6 million that yr and “eradicated positions important to sustaining hearth engines, vans, and ambulances.”
The mayor’s counsel, David Michaelson, stated in a press release that Bass wouldn’t touch upon an “ongoing personnel declare” and that she was specializing in “preparations for the most popular temperatures of the yr and the potential for regional hearth hazard.”
Per Wednesday’s submitting, Crowley can also be claiming that Bass, town, and its workers, workers, brokers, and directors “allowed, permitted, incited, excused, and in any other case ratified the aforesaid misconduct.” The previous hearth chief is demanding that Bass “retract her false statements about Crowley,” problem a public apology, and finish any ongoing retaliation.
In a press release, Crowley stated, “The lies, deceit, exaggerations and misrepresentations should be addressed with the one factor that may refute them – the true info.” She continued, “Doing the correct factor even when it’s onerous, is all the time the correct choice and that’s the reason I’m persevering with to battle for the sources our Firefighters must hold us all protected.”
Crowley’s lawyer, Genie Harrison, stated in a separate assertion that Crowley’s tort declare “exhibits Mayor Bass’ repeated refusals to offer these sources. The residents of Los Angeles should know the reality about how underresourced the LAFD has develop into and the way that got here to be.”
As Los Angeles continues to get better from the lethal fires and reckons with its social and political aftermath, reports of a serious warmth wave have been issued this week, warning of an elevated threat for wildfires that might rapidly unfold. “We all know how rapidly fires can begin and unfold,” Bass said at a information convention Tuesday. “If something, we’re going above and past what’s required proper now regarding the degree of menace,” Bass added. “I need Angelenos to be assured.”
