How Mayor Bass Can Save LA, and Why History Says She Won’t

"Every big city in America where the population is declining, businesses are closing, public safety is failing, and national relevance is diminishing suffers from the same handful of leadership failures."

John Perry - American Thinker   

"Zohran Mamdani, Brandon Johnson, Karen Bass, and others follow the Curley Effect playbook. Their base is defined by race and class identity politics. They play to these constituents’ demands for less policing, more welfare, environmental extremism, supporting the unions, and soaking the rich."

"Every big city in America where the population is declining, businesses are closing, public safety is failing, and national relevance is diminishing suffers from the same handful of leadership failures. Cities don’t become helpless has-beens due to budget shortfalls, racial tension, natural disasters, or any of the other common excuses cities like Los Angeles use to explain or justify their decline. Along with New York, Chicago, Seattle, and other cities currently spiraling down the drain, LA is going from bad to worse because of four mistakes its leaders have perpetuated.

"These failures are both predictable and preventable. But history tells us that as mayor, Karen Bass will have a hard time implementing the simple changes required.   

"Here is why cities wither and die:   

1. Failure to keep citizens safe -- If people don’t feel safe on their own streets, nothing else matters. Productive, law-abiding, taxpaying residents deserve protection from criminals, vagrants, and other undesirables. It’s the responsibility of the police and the judicial system to establish and preserve a safe environment." . . .

2. Failure to provide effective schools – Families with children are the backbone of any thriving community. Responsible parents -- the ones who have steady jobs, volunteer in the community, support local businesses, pay taxes, and obey the law -- will stop at nothing to send their children to the best schools they can"  . . .

3. Failure to keep the cost of living manageable – Los Angeles, like Chicago, Seattle, New York, and other failing cities, is living hopelessly beyond its means. In order to fund vast social programs that attract homeless addicts from around the country,

4. Failure to keep corruption in check - Unchecked corruption robs cities of their resources, energy, and legitimacy. One of the reasons Chicago struggles is there has been no change in leadership to clean house: Democrats have controlled the city since 1930. Like Chicago, Los Angeles desperately needs a new team to sweep those nasty streets from top to bottom.   

. . . "The results are there for all to see: Great for being re-elected. Terrible for the citizens and cities these leaders are supposed to lead."

John Perry is a ghostwriter and collaborator, as well as the author of more than a dozen books including Sgt. York: His Life, Legend, and Legacy (Fidelis, 2021). His latest book is The Detroiting of America: What Happened to the Motor City, Why Other Cities Followed, How Detroit is Coming Back

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