Homelessness. Housing. Public safety. Potential recession.
These are just some of the issues Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass may touch on in her first State of the City address, which she’ll deliver Monday, April 17, followed by the release of her budget proposal the following day.
The mayor’s speech will highlight what her administration has accomplished in the four months she’s been in office as well as work that still lies ahead, according to her spokesperson, Zach Seidl.
“In both her State of the CIty address, and the budget she will be releasing … Mayor Bass will lay out her plan for the next year to make Los Angeles stronger, healthier, and safer,” he said in an email.
The State of the City address will take place at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the City Council Chambers. The public can catch a livestream of the event at lacityview.org/live and on the mayor’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Bass’ office hasn’t provided details about the upcoming speech, which some believe will be a defining moment for the first-term mayor.
Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, said Bass’ first State of the City will be her formal introduction to Angelenos, setting the stage not only for the coming year, but for the rest of her term. Most presidents, governors and mayors enact the majority of their policy changes the first two years of their terms, Guerra said.
“If you don’t go big in the first year, you can never go big later on,” he said.
At the same time, Guerra said Bass tends to be measured in her approach. He expects her to lay out her plan for tackling the homelessness crisis and alternative responses to armed police officers during Monday’s address, without promising to resolve these issues in one year’s time.
“I don’t think she should make any promises for any major gains in the next year or two because these challenges are intractable. I do think she should lay out some…
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