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Citing LA’s failures in leadership during the wildfires, Mayor Karen Bass rejected LAFD chief Christine Crowley on February 21st. According to the city’s charter, Crawley filed an appeal heard Tuesday by the Los Angeles City Council. According to the city clerk’s office, the council last heard of a complaint like Crowley was in 2005 for animal services managers.
Former Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Christine Crowley will be in front of the city council in a regular meeting Tuesday.
The February 21 shooting only attracted public responses from just a few on the 15-member panel, but it remains unclear how they plan to vote after Crowley sued for fire at a regular meeting on Tuesday, which is permitted under the city’s charter. According to City Charter, Crowley will need to supplement 10 councillors with her.
The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 10am. This was not immediately clear when the decision would be announced at the meeting, but the appeal is the final item on the council’s agenda that can be adjusted. According to the published agenda, the final day of the Council’s lawsuit on appeal is March 26th.
A Crowley spokesman confirmed that the former LAFD chief will be taking part in the city council meeting. It was not immediately clear whether she would speak.
Bus fired Crawley, who remains at a low rank after the mayor deemed a leadership failure during the January fire in Los Angeles, including the fatal Palisades fire on the coast of Los Angeles County.
The council originally planned to hear Crawley’s appeal, a short timeline that drew criticism from the Firefighters’ Union. The special meeting was delayed until Tuesday morning.
LAFD union president Freddie Escobar said members will support Crawley and plan to attend her appeal hearing.
“Think about that. The labor is with the management on this,” Escobar said. “Our hope is that dozens of LAFD firefighters have boots on the ground, where they will support Chief Crory.
“I think she’ll talk if she’s given the opportunity. We want her to talk and set the facts straight.”
According to the city clerk’s office, the council last heard of a complaint like Crowley was in 2005 for animal services managers.
NBC4’s Conan Nolan talks with investigative reporter Eric Leonard about the Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bus bomb, regarding the announcement that it launched LAFD chief Christine Crawley. Additionally, LA City Councilman Monica Rodriguez explains why she doesn’t support Crawley’s shooting.
“We’ll ask the public to make things that are not something that the staff working on this do regularly,” Councilman Markey Harris Dawson said last week. “So we understand that. We come up with all applicable laws and so on.”
Regarding the outcome of the appeal, councillors who spoke to NBCLA on Friday did not indicate how they would vote.
A 10 vote bar can be difficult to meet. Four council members were standing with Bass when she announced the shooting at City Hall on Friday. Another member publicly announced support on Tuesday.
The two have publicly stated their opposition to the mayor’s decision.
Like Monica Rodriguez, a council member for the San Fernando Valley, district councillor Traci Park, including Pacific Palisade, asked Crowley to appeal the decision.
“The investigation has not been completed. At this time, there is no evidence record in front of us,” Park said Monday. “This feels premature under circumstances and I have some concerns about the process and what’s clearly lacking in the future.”
Los Angeles Chief Christine Crowley and Mayor Karen Bass attended the meeting Friday evening following Crawley’s remarks about the decision to cut budgets. Robert Kovacik is reporting NBC4 News’ report on Friday, January 10th, 2025 at 5pm.
Harris Dawson, one of the members standing behind the mayor during the announcement Friday, said he supports the bus decision. Councillors Karen Price, Hugo Soto Martinez and Adlin Nazarian also made bass at the February 21st City Hall press conference.
“I don’t necessarily know why she wants a job when she doesn’t have the mayor’s confidence, but it’s certainly a right to do it, and perhaps a public review of some of these things, but that’s the process,” Councillor Bob Blumenfield said Friday.
Price said Monday that he supports the base decision.
“I want to be clear and clear without a doubt. I’m standing with Mayor Karen Bass,” Price said.
Bass was asked about the appeal Friday.
“We didn’t know if she would sue, but that’s certainly within her rights,” Bass said.
The front and back of the mayor and former mayor alleges that the fire began when he traveled abroad on January 7th, and that Crawley did not warn her in advance about the strong winds that fanned the wildfires of Pallisard and Eton. Wind storms were widely anticipated and publicized when fires began in Pallisad and Altadena in the Pacific Ocean.
In a statement to NBC4 last week, LAFD said the department followed all standard preparatory procedures.
“Before the Palisades fire, LAFD emailed two separate media advisories, conducted multiple live and recorded media interviews on the expected extreme fire weather, and notified city officials of upcoming weather events,” the agency said.
Crowley criticized the city for budget cuts that he said was made difficult for firefighters to do their jobs at the time of disruption in the sector consumed by complaints of hayes, harassment and discrimination, which were promoted to Los Angeles fire chief in 2022 and ramping among the 3,400 ranks. Bass says budget cuts will not affect LAFD’s response to wildfires.
Crawley says the cuts affected the mechanics, primarily the fire engines and ambulances that needed repairs.
One of the complaints the mayor identified when he fired Crowley was that he refused to provide a late investigation requested by the city’s civil fire commission to respond to the fire. Crawley has not addressed the issue publicly.
Texting with Crowley provides insight into adjusting storms and fires. The message includes communications between the city’s emergency manager and the LAPD chief, calling for plans for the emergency operations center ahead of the Palisade fire and a message from Crowley to community firefighters “that can send us.”
The mayor’s office has issued a 350-page text messaging statement.
“These documents indicate that on the day leading up to the fire, Chief Crowley had not had text contact with the mayor or her staff member regarding the next weather event until the fire had already erupted,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.
Former Chief Roney Villa Nueva, a 1941 LAFD veteran, has been announced as interim fire chief.
Crowley has been with the LAFD for nearly 25 years and works through departmental ranks to acquire top jobs as a firefighter, paramedic, engineer, fire inspector, captain, battalion commander, auxiliary chief, deputy chief and chief deputy deputy.
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