Full debate: Karen Bass vs. Nithya Raman for LA mayor

[0:00] NBC4 and Telemundo 52 present Decision 2026, the L.A. Mayoral Debate. [0:09] Good evening, everyone. I'm Colleen Williams. [0:12] Los Angeles is at a crossroads. [0:14] Every day, the challenges facing Angelenos are becoming harder to ignore. [0:19] The biggest struggle is definitely rent costs. [0:21] We should have places for our kids to be able to come where we don't have to worry about needles. [0:26] It's like the perfect street for a break-in. [0:27] Rising housing costs, public safety concerns, homelessness, and questions about the future of our city. [0:35] The decisions made at L.A. City Hall affect countless neighborhoods and millions of people. [0:40] And now voters are preparing to make a decision of their own. [0:44] Will they stay the course, or is it time for a new direction? [0:48] Tonight, you'll hear directly from the two candidates seeking to lead America's second-largest city. [0:53] For the next hour, they'll face each other and make their case to the people of Los Angeles. [0:58] And it all happens right here in the only televised mayoral debate before Election Day. [1:05] Live from NBC4 and Telemundo 52 in Universal City, this is Decision 2026, the Los Angeles mayoral debate. [1:15] We are seated at the table tonight with both candidates for Los Angeles mayor. [1:21] Mayor Karen Bass is here to convince voters she should get a second term. [1:26] Elected in 2022, she is a former congresswoman and state assembly speaker. [1:31] Councilmember Nithya Rahman is no stranger to City Hall. [1:34] She has spent the past six years representing District 4. [1:38] She will now make the case that she can lead the city in a new direction. [1:43] Asking the questions with me, Telemundo 52 news anchor Alejandra Ortiz [1:47] and NBC4's chief political correspondent, Conan Nolan. [1:51] Muy buenas noches para todos. [1:53] We're proud to broadcast and stream this debate in both English and Spanish in partnership with LMU. [1:58] And we expect a debate with no name-calling, no interruptions, and no personal attacks. [2:05] With that being said, here are the rules for tonight. [2:08] Each candidate will have 60 seconds to answer our questions [2:11] and 30 seconds for rebuttals and follow-up questions at the discretion of the moderators. [2:16] So let's get started. [2:18] Every survey seems to indicate that there is a large undecided vote here, abnormally large. [2:25] Clearly, there are a lot of voters who voted for Spencer Pratt. [2:28] You remember him from the primary. [2:30] I'd like you to start off by addressing them, [2:32] because every survey we've seen indicates that they don't trust either one of you [2:37] to lead the city over the next four years. [2:39] Mayor, you have 60 seconds. We'll start with you. [2:41] Yes. [2:41] Well, first of all, to the voters that are undecided, [2:44] I want to say that I ran for mayor because we had an absolute crisis in our city. [2:51] On our streets, homelessness had exploded. [2:54] I do not believe that any Angelenos should be in the streets. [2:58] I do not believe in street homelessness. [3:02] I declared a state of emergency. [3:04] We have reduced homelessness by 11%. [3:06] We've reduced veterans' homelessness by 50%. [3:09] There is a lot that needs to be done in the city, but the city is moving forward. [3:15] In 640 days, we will have the Olympics in the city. [3:19] Our city needs to be prepared. [3:20] I know that we can. [3:22] We have reduced homicides to 60-year lows. [3:25] Crime is down overall. [3:27] We have accelerated housing. [3:29] And I am a strong believer in public safety. [3:32] Public safety is number one in terms of my job. [3:36] Councilwoman? [3:36] Thank you so much, and thank you to everyone who is tuning in tonight. [3:41] I want to actually harken back to another Angelino who asked on a debate stage, Ronald Reagan, actually. [3:48] Are you better off today than you were four years ago? [3:51] As I have been around the city talking to voters through this campaign, the answer for too many of them has been no. [3:58] Whether it's on homelessness, whether it's on fire response, whether it's on our jobs crisis in entertainment and beyond, whether it's on emergency management or just the cost of housing and the cost of living, which is growing and pushing working families out of this city every day. [4:16] And too often, what I have heard from them is that we've had a mayor who has been MIA. [4:22] And for me, that is simply unacceptable. [4:26] I know that the city can do better. [4:29] I've delivered real results in my district. [4:32] We've seen a reduction in homelessness, nearly 50%, even as it rose across the city. [4:37] And I've delivered real constituent services consistently. [4:41] And that's what I hope to do as mayor. [4:42] I would like to respond. [4:44] Go ahead. [4:45] Let me just say that I believe that this is a significant choice for voters. [4:52] Voters need to look at my opponent, who has been in Los Angeles for 13 years, has served on city council for half that time. [5:01] In this time, she has produced very little. [5:04] The first job of a mayor is public safety. [5:07] She has consistently voted against police officers. [5:10] She has consistently voted to not remove encampments in front of schools. [5:16] So parents and kids have to navigate their way through. [5:19] There is a better way to go. [5:22] To go with this candidate is really taking a serious risk. [5:26] We're going to get into all those issues in just a moment. [5:28] Alejandra? [5:29] And we're moving to homelessness. [5:30] You have both mentioned we are, you know, in a homelessness crisis. [5:34] And this question is for both of you. [5:36] And it's actually one of the biggest issues here in Los Angeles, homelessness. [5:40] Since our last debate, we have learned that the homeless population has increased over the past year specifically. [5:46] Mayor Bass, this crisis was your number one priority when you were in your campaign. [5:52] What went wrong? [5:53] You have 60 seconds. [5:54] Oh, sure. [5:55] What went wrong was a cut in the budget, a cut in the budget on the state. [5:59] But let me just say that for the first time, we have had a reduction in street homelessness. [6:04] This has not happened before. [6:06] As I mentioned, we've had 11 percent reduction overall. [6:10] It did kick up last year. [6:12] In eight council districts, homelessness went down, including yours. [6:16] The main reason homelessness went down is because our efforts with Insight Safe. [6:21] We removed three encampments from your district. [6:24] Those were the largest encampments. [6:26] That accounted for as much as 40 percent of the homelessness in your district. [6:33] We have a problem that I know can be solved. [6:36] And one of the main ways it needs to be solved is the city of Los Angeles needs to be in complete control of the system so we can have transparency and accountability. [6:46] No more joint working with the county. [6:49] But we need to be in control of our system. [6:53] Mayor, and just a follow-up question to that. [6:55] Can we trust those counts? [6:57] Are they accurate? [6:58] Because there's a Rand Corporation study that said that in Skid Row, Venice, and Hollywood, there was an undercount, sometimes 26 percent, 39 percent in Skid Row specifically. [7:08] Can we trust that? [7:09] Well, I think the bottom line is that the pit count, which is required by the federal government, is basically the only thing that we have to go by. [7:17] I think that there are weaknesses in the process. [7:20] But, yes, the Rand Corporation also said that there was a 50 percent reduction in street homelessness in Hollywood as well. [7:27] And so I would definitely look for ways to improve the count. [7:32] But the reality is, is that street homelessness declined for the first time in the city of Los Angeles. [7:38] That has not happened before. [7:40] I am the only mayor that has leaned in and taken on this issue. [7:44] Thank you, Mayor. [7:45] Council Member Bromann, she is the mayor, but you have been a part of the city government for almost six years now. [7:52] For three years, you were the chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee. [7:56] Do you bear any responsibility for the number of homeless people going up citywide? [8:02] Now, just because you're in your district, it actually went down. [8:06] Yes. [8:06] You have 60 seconds. [8:07] So homelessness is the primary issue that voters are dealing with, even today. [8:13] Every call I get in my office, the issue that I'm talking to about voters across the city and what I'm hearing from them over and over again is that they are frustrated. [8:22] They're frustrated with the lack of progress and they're frustrated with the amount of money that's being spent without any accountability. [8:29] Under this mayor's leadership, we have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into an incredibly expensive program inside safe, which has been unaccountable to the public, for which she has refused audits and which has brought down homelessness a little bit. [8:44] But at extraordinary cost, and now we see it ticking up again, and it looks exactly the same as it did on day one. [8:51] There has been no adaptation. [8:53] There has been no changes to the program to make it more cost effective, where it costs $80,000 to $100,000 per person per year. [9:00] In my district, we had very different results, where we saw a nearly 50% reduction in homelessness just in the last year, even as it rose citywide. [9:09] And I'm very, very proud of those results. [9:11] Councilmember, but you were the chair of this homelessness committee, and a colleague of yours, Imelda Padilla, publicly said that when she served, the months she served in that committee, under your leadership, that was the most unproductive time she has had on council. [9:26] Can you tell me one accomplishment to prove her wrong? [9:29] Absolutely. So, on that committee, I pushed incredibly hard to make the changes that our system needed. [9:35] Here are the two things that the system needs to do to actually respond to the needs of Angelenos. [9:39] One, it needs to monitor every dollar and track its performance. [9:43] And for the first time, thanks to my work on that committee, we have performance data about homelessness in the city that I use to fill every shelter bed in my district. [9:53] And I'm very, very proud of that. [9:55] Unfortunately, Inside Safe's data has not been updated since last August. [9:59] And it has been wasting money as a result. [10:02] We're out of time. Thank you. [10:03] Let's talk about encampments here. [10:05] You know I need to rebut that. [10:07] Well, let's talk about encampments. [10:08] You'll have an opportunity in just a moment. [10:10] Councilmember Rahman, you voted against 4118, the ordinance that makes it illegal to have encampments in front of schools and parks, daycare centers, sensitive areas. [10:20] Will you seek to repeal this ordinance? [10:22] And do you stand by your statement that children are not safer because a tent is 500 feet away from schools? [10:28] You have 60 seconds. [10:29] Thank you. [10:30] Let me be very clear. [10:30] I'm a mother of 10-year-old twins who walk to school every single day to the LAUSD school near my house. [10:37] Their safety matters so much to me. [10:39] The safety of every child across this city matters so much to me. [10:43] Homelessness on our streets is unacceptable to me. [10:46] That's why I push back against the kind of legislation that, at its most effective, uses scarcity resources to move an encampment across the street. [10:56] This is simply not safe enough for the children of Los Angeles. [10:59] While I would not seek to repeal this ordinance, if I am mayor, here's the vision that I hope to actually implement if I am mayor. [11:08] A world where we're not talking about which block an encampment is on, which is the discussion that we're having now under this mayor, [11:15] but a world, a city, in which homelessness is no longer a problem on the streets of Los Angeles. [11:21] I know that's possible. [11:22] When I first started in office, I had encampments around schools. [11:26] Now we don't. We don't have them in our parks because of the steady, relentless work of my office. [11:31] And I want to bring those results to every block of the city. [11:34] Council Member, thank you. Mayor Bass, your response. [11:36] Yes. First of all, it's interesting that she has been the chair of the committee for a number of years. [11:42] And every dollar that was spent on Inside Safe was approved by you. [11:47] You had to receive reports regularly on Inside Safe. [11:51] And your consultants that you hired said that Inside Safe was the second most cost-effective program. [11:58] You know good and well it is not $80,000 or $100,000 to house a person. [12:04] You know that the county reimburses it. [12:07] And so I think one thing that is really important, and I think it was expressed by Imelda Padilla, [12:12] your colleagues have a very difficult time working with you. [12:16] As a matter of fact, we had to twist their arms to get them to even serve on the committee. [12:21] They were relieved when you were removed because they don't find you to be basically honest, [12:27] are very difficult to work with. [12:29] If you cannot manage the work of your committee, [12:32] how on earth are you going to manage the second largest city in the country? [12:37] Council Member Rahman, you have 30 seconds to respond to that. [12:39] You know, my colleagues had no trouble putting me in leadership on the council, [12:44] making me the chair of one of the most powerful committees, [12:46] before I decided to push back against a system that I saw was failing Los Angeles. [12:51] When I decided to run against you, Mayor Bass, [12:54] what I saw right now was that conditions in the city were unacceptable. [12:57] That I didn't want to wait four more years for change to happen, [13:02] simply because that's what establishment politics decided to do. [13:05] I think, Angelina, you're going to hear a lot of insults tonight, personal insults, [13:09] because this mayor cannot defend the record of the last four years. [13:13] So we'll move on. [13:15] San Francisco is enforcing the drug law. [13:18] They've had the lowest homeless rate in 15 years. [13:22] If you do drugs on the street, you will be arrested. [13:25] You'll be given the choice of either jail or treatment. [13:28] They say they're not arresting their way out of the homeless problem. [13:31] They're just enforcing the law. [13:32] And I'm just wondering, why does that seem like a non-starter here? [13:36] And, Mayor, I'll have you start us off. [13:37] In answering, do you anticipate that LAPD will continue cooperation with the Department of Justice [13:44] in anti-drug raids that we saw in MacArthur Park and Skid Row? [13:49] You have 60 seconds. [13:49] Absolutely, yes. [13:51] I think it is very important to separate the people who are legitimately homeless from the drug dealers. [13:57] We've had two busts. [13:58] I supported that. [13:59] I was involved in one just in Hollywood where we housed 60 people in one day. [14:05] But basically, that encampment was a facade. [14:08] It was a front for drug dealers. [14:11] And so, yes, I think that's very important. [14:13] The problem we have here, though, is that if you were to detain somebody who is addicted, [14:18] you don't have the treatment beds for them to be in. [14:22] And so what I do not believe in is just arresting addicts and having them in jail. [14:29] But the jails are filled, so they won't even stay. [14:32] But I do think the model of drug court was a good model where you have a choice between going to jail or going into treatment. [14:40] But the first thing we need to do is expand treatment in the city. [14:43] I believe that you cannot address homelessness without a whole-of-government approach. [14:49] And that's exactly what we've done in my district. [14:52] That's why we've had the success that we've had. [14:55] You work with LAPD to make sure that you are enforcing laws that need to be enforced, [15:00] that you're arresting people who are committing crimes. [15:03] And everyone else who simply needs a bed or needs shelter is able to go indoors. [15:08] And through that diligent work, you actually make progress on the streets. [15:13] The other big issue is that we simply don't have enough shelter in our city. [15:17] That's why the work that I was doing to actually create real metrics about the system, [15:22] to understand where every bed was, was it open on any given night, can it be filled, [15:27] was incredibly important work for the city. [15:29] Without spending additional taxpayer dollars, [15:31] we were actually able to bring thousands of people indoors just by filling beds [15:36] that the city had already paid for. [15:39] This is the kind of accountability and transparency that has been lacking [15:42] from this mayor's intervention into homelessness [15:45] and the kind of accountability that taxpayers deserve. [15:48] Councilwoman Rahman, last week you chose to be interviewed by a social media influencer [15:53] who referred to the city as extremely racist. [15:57] Did you not challenge that characterization? [16:00] You did not, if you saw the video, the post. [16:04] And your campaign agreed to repost this. [16:09] What does that say about judgment here? [16:11] And you have 60 seconds to respond to this. [16:12] So the interview questions that were asked to me were about ICE, [16:16] whether ICE was racist, [16:18] whether ICE is undertaking terrible actions on our streets. [16:21] And I stand by that. [16:22] I believe ICE is being racist on our streets. [16:24] Immigrants are terrified here in the city of Los Angeles. [16:28] And I will speak up against the actions of ICE and the actions of the Trump administration [16:33] on our streets every single day, because this is a city of immigrants. [16:38] I feel very strongly about these issues. [16:40] I am an immigrant to America myself. [16:43] And unfortunately, this city, under this mayor's leadership, [16:46] has lost the trust of many people across the city, [16:49] because LAPD has been reportedly sharing data with ICE. [16:54] This city used to be the gold standard in terms of non-cooperation with immigration enforcement [16:59] years ago, under the era of Daryl Gates. [17:01] And now, under this mayor, we've actually lost trust from our immigrant community [17:06] in our city and in our law enforcement. [17:08] That's a problem, and that needs to change. [17:10] I have a follow-up to this very quickly, 30 seconds here. [17:14] This influencer called the city extremely fascist. [17:19] Did you not vet this video or this post before it went up? [17:23] Did you even see it before it went up? [17:25] Well, we have a big social media team, of course. [17:27] And as soon as we realized... [17:29] Did that not present a red flag to someone? [17:31] As soon as we realized that it was a mis-edited video, we took it down. [17:35] We requested it to take it down. [17:37] This was an interview from someone else. [17:39] It was edited by someone else. [17:40] It was up for maybe an hour or two. [17:43] That's it. [17:44] Yes, we made an error, but it was an error. [17:46] And I have never... [17:47] I would never imply that this city is fascist or that this mayor is fascist or that our [17:52] police chief is fascist. [17:54] That's not what I said at all. [17:55] ICE is fascist, and I do stand by that. [17:57] You know, Mayor Bass, you have 60 seconds to respond. [17:59] You were mentioned in this post. [18:01] Okay, yeah. [18:01] I am sorry. [18:02] I mean, I think it's really important to be honest. [18:05] And to say that you didn't know or you were only talking about the police is just simply [18:11] not true. [18:12] And you know that. [18:13] You called the city fascist. [18:16] You called the police chief. [18:18] You called me fascist. [18:19] No. [18:19] It made me wonder whether you understood what the word fascism meant, but it also just showed [18:25] that you're not ready for prime time. [18:28] How could you reiterate the words and say you didn't understand what they meant? [18:32] And it's ironic that you attach it to ICE. [18:36] When the ICE raids happened in June of last year, you were nowhere to be found. [18:41] You were completely invisible. [18:43] And if I've lost the trust of the immigrant rights community, of which I have worked with [18:48] for many, many years, why is it that I have the endorsement of all of the major immigrant [18:53] rights groups? [18:54] Why is it that they stood with me when we signed into law, putting up the sign saying that ICE [19:00] could not be on city property? [19:03] Why did they stand with me? [19:04] Thank you. [19:05] You have 30 seconds to respond to that. [19:07] You know, what we've seen over the past year and a half on our streets has been an LAPD [19:14] that has at times appeared to have been protecting ICE while they were undertaking actions on our [19:19] streets. [19:19] That has caused fear in our immigrant communities. [19:23] We've seen that databases have been searched by LAPD giving license information to ICE that's [19:30] been reported by multiple publications. [19:33] That's struck fear in the heart of immigrant communities here. [19:36] I'm an immigrant myself. [19:38] I'm the author of the city sanctuary city ordinance. [19:40] This issue matters to me personally. [19:42] This issue matters to me personally. [19:44] And I resent personal attacks. [19:46] I'd rather stick to facts than your best. [19:48] I am. [19:49] I'm doing exactly that. [19:50] With regard to that video, this is a follow-up 30 seconds, please. [19:55] You said that the police chief, you would seek a new police chief that he didn't meet the [20:01] moment. [20:01] Yes. [20:01] Then you gave an interview saying that you probably let him serve his term. [20:06] You said 20-30 in the interview with ABC, from what I understand. [20:09] No, I said, sorry. [20:11] Let me just say. [20:12] I said that's when his term was up. [20:14] Right. [20:15] Yes. [20:15] But from what I understand, you said, well, here's the deal. [20:18] You told the California Post and the LA Times, well, I'll get rid of him before his term [20:23] is up. [20:24] But we don't know when that is. [20:26] So for clarity, will you replace the chief before the 28th Summer Olympic Games in Los [20:32] Angeles? [20:33] You know, I want to replace the police chief. [20:37] I've been very open about that. [20:38] I've been very clear about that. [20:39] I don't believe this chief has met the moment. [20:41] I believe he's lost the trust of Angelenos, especially in response to the ice raids and [20:46] person after person, community member after community member that I've spoken to, has [20:51] agreed that we've lost the trust with the city here. [20:55] It is not a unilateral decision by the mayor. [20:58] It takes agreement with the police commission, even agreement with the council. [21:02] It's not something that I can immediately set a timeline on, but I do plan to do it. [21:06] And I will work towards it. [21:07] Hold on. [21:07] I will work towards it, keeping the safety of Angelenos paramount and making sure that [21:14] we are also able to keep the safety of our immigrant communities paramount. [21:17] Those two are not in conflict with one another. [21:19] And I will work towards that with all of the responsibility that this question takes. [21:23] It takes a lot of responsibility. [21:25] For clarity, though, in two years, the LA Summer Games, LA will be the number one terrorist [21:30] target in the world. [21:32] Will you replace the chief before 2028? [21:35] It will depend on these other factors, on other decision-making bodies. [21:38] I will work towards that with all of the responsibility and all of the care that this [21:43] moment requires. [21:44] And I promise you, Angelenos, I promise you, there is no decision that I will take as your [21:49] mayor that will put you in danger. [21:52] Everything will be done with deliberation. [21:53] Everything will be done with care and with the advice of all of the people that are involved [21:59] in making sure that you are safe as these Olympics approach. [22:02] Mary, you have 30 seconds. [22:03] Yes. [22:03] Well, first of all, it is absolutely in the power of the mayor to fire the police chief. [22:08] You have said that you would get rid of him before the Olympics. [22:13] What worries me about that is that I don't think you have any idea what it takes to identify [22:18] a police chief. [22:19] We are 640 days away from the largest sporting event to ever take place, a major national security [22:27] event. [22:28] And if you think that you're going to find a police chief, you would send the department [22:33] in disarray by doing that. [22:35] The problem is, is that you have a tendency to take different positions on different days [22:40] of the week. [22:41] I have a lot of faith in our department. [22:43] This next question. [22:44] That we can handle complex things. [22:46] This next question. [22:46] I believe in our city. [22:47] I really do. [22:47] Also deals with policing. [22:48] I do. [22:49] But you called it fascist. [22:50] No, I didn't. [22:51] Please. [22:52] We're moving on to another topic here, although it also deals with policing. [22:56] Mayor Bass, in 2025, there was a more than 60 percent increase in LAPD officer-involved [23:01] shootings, despite a multi-year reduction in violent crime. [23:05] The LAPD typically shares its analysis by April or May. [23:10] It's October at this point, and they have yet to share any kind of analysis about this [23:15] trend. [23:15] Why hasn't the information been released so far? [23:18] And you have 60 seconds. [23:19] Sure. [23:20] Well, first of all, the Los Angeles Police Department, I know, has changed how they compile [23:26] the data. [23:27] They absolutely need to release the data to the community. [23:33] I have been very, very worried about officer-involved shootings. [23:36] As a matter of fact, I did an executive directive just a few weeks ago, ordering an evaluation [23:42] of the shootings, because there is a percentage and a large percentage of the shootings, especially [23:49] those that end in bodily harm or death, of people who are suffering from mental illness. [23:56] And that is something that happens in police departments around the country. [24:00] I'm very worried at the training or lack thereof that our officers get and want to see a significant [24:06] change in that system. [24:08] I know that we can reduce officer-involved shootings if and when we focus on those who are suffering [24:14] from mental illness and actually provide them the intervention and the treatment that they [24:19] need. [24:19] Councilwoman Rahman, you have 30 seconds to respond to that. [24:22] Well, you know, actually, under this mayor, what I have seen is that we are releasing significantly [24:28] less information on so many issues than we were before. [24:32] It's not just information about officer-involved shootings that is not available to the public. [24:37] Neighborhood-level crime data, which has been available for years to the community, [24:41] is no longer available to the public under this mayor's leadership. [24:46] Information about what kind of databases the city is using, what cameras, license plate, [24:53] all of those issues are not being shared with the public. [24:56] And I think it contributes to the lack of trust. [24:58] We need change. [25:00] We need to restore trust in our law enforcement desperately. [25:03] And we're going to talk about that topic coming up. [25:05] Thank you. [25:05] Absolutely. [25:06] Next question is for both of you. [25:08] The LAPD is in the process of renewing and expanding contracts for automatic license plate [25:13] readers and now installing them on top of streetlights. [25:17] Does mass surveillance have a place in local law enforcement? [25:21] Councilmember Rahman, I'll start with you. [25:24] And you have 30 seconds. [25:25] I have been very skeptical of these kinds of mass surveillance technologies. [25:30] I want to see proof that they are effective at addressing crime. [25:34] And I want to see hard proof that this data will not be used to surveil our populations, [25:40] would not be shared with ICE. [25:41] So far, I have not seen that. [25:43] And I want to make sure that we have that because, as I mentioned, [25:46] we have a crisis of trust in City Hall right now and a crisis of trust in law enforcement. [25:51] We need change. [25:52] We need to restore that trust. [25:54] And the way we do that is by making sure that the city can trust these kinds of data collection. [25:59] Thank you, Councilmember. [26:01] Mayor. [26:01] Yes. [26:02] First of all, I do think that license plate readers have a place in crime prevention. [26:08] I do think there's tons of hard data about that. [26:11] The problem is the FLOC cameras, which I certainly do not support renewing the contract with FLOC [26:17] because FLOC has been completely uncooperative and refuses to curtail who they share their data with. [26:24] There are other companies that provide that service, and I think that LAPD needs to have a contract with those companies. [26:33] You know, I also started an office of community safety to look for non-law enforcement ways to reduce crime, [26:41] and we've been very successful in doing that around the city. [26:44] Mayor, thank you. [26:45] The next topic here is the fire in the Palisades. [26:48] It's been almost two years since the Palisades fire burned 6,000 homes. [26:53] Only 56 families have been able to rebuild and move in. [26:57] So our next question comes from a contractor and a resident of the Palisades for 16 years. [27:03] Let's listen. [27:03] My question to the mayoral candidates would be, what will you do different with the federal and state agencies to help this rebuild go faster? [27:13] Because to date, nothing has worked for this community and the rebuild. [27:18] Okay, Mayor Bass, your response to Mr. Kamdar, and you have 60 seconds. [27:22] Yes. [27:23] Well, to begin to respond to the questioner, let me just say that I am so profoundly sorry that I was not in my city when my city needed me. [27:34] There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of the lives lost, the families that lost their home, [27:41] or the families where the home is still standing, but they're not able to be in it. [27:46] So we have done a lot to fast track the building. [27:50] We have 1,000 homes under construction right now. [27:53] People are beginning to move back. [27:56] We have expedited, done executive orders, expedited to eliminate the red tape so people would get back. [28:04] In terms of the federal and the state agencies, the state agency has been very cooperative. [28:10] We have been working with the federal government because we need our reimbursement for FEMA so that we can rebuild the infrastructure of the Palisades. [28:19] And I will not stop until every Palisadian that wants to go home has an opportunity to return home. [28:26] Councilwoman Rahman, you have 60 seconds. [28:29] What would you do to move the building along? [28:31] You know, one of the most important things, I think it's important to acknowledge how big of a failure the Palisades was, [28:37] and this mayor's response was, we had the highest fire risk moment that the city had seen in over a decade. [28:43] We had had a fire in the Palisades a week prior. [28:47] No fire trucks were pre-deployed. [28:49] A thousand firefighters were sent home from their shift, leaving fire trucks unused in fire stations when the fires were raging. [28:57] And this mayor didn't even tell the fire chief that she was leaving the country. [29:03] I was in the emergency operations center during the fire. [29:05] Sixty thousand of my residents in my district were evacuated. [29:09] And the question that I heard over and over there and across the entire city was, where is our mayor? [29:15] Where is our mayor? [29:16] I want to tell Mr. Kamdar and every resident of this city that if there is another emergency, you will not have to ask, if I am mayor, where our mayor is, I will be on the front lines. [29:27] And to Mr. Kamdar, I say to you that I will ensure that we have leadership in my office, a real Palisades czar who can advocate for every single need that the Palisades community has had, unlike what we've not seen from the city's office. [29:40] Thank you, Council Member, your time's up. [29:42] Mayor, this is a follow-up question for you, so you'll have 30 seconds to respond. [29:46] Earlier today, the L.A. Fire Department confirmed more than half of its fleet has aged out. [29:52] Nearly 100 fire engines are due for replacement and have been for more than a year now. [30:00] Knowing that it will take years to buy new fire trucks, how long will it take for us to be fully prepared for the next catastrophic wildfire? [30:09] Mayor, you have 30 seconds. [30:11] Well, first of all, I do think that we would be prepared today for the next catastrophic wildfire. [30:16] Let me say that we have new leadership in the department, and that new leader, Jaime Moore, has already implemented over 90 percent of the recommendations from the internal report as well as the independent state report. [30:30] As a matter of fact, we're preparing for what is a potential red flag day this Thursday. [30:36] He has already reached out to the state for additional resources. [30:40] He is planning to pre-deploy in the Palisades and other high-risk fire areas. [30:44] What you're telling us is that those 100 fire engines that are due for replacement, they have already been replaced? [30:52] No, no, no. I'm not saying that at all. [30:54] But you're saying that we're going to be fully prepared. [30:56] Some of them can, yes, because some of them can still be used. [31:00] And let me just say that voters have an opportunity to participate in this. [31:03] There is a ballot initiative to provide the resources that the fire department actually needs [31:08] because we have the same number of firefighters and fire stations that we did from many decades ago before we had 3.8 million Angelenos. [31:20] So a follow-up to that, Mayor, is to you, Councilwoman. [31:23] The measure on the ballot, measure FD, is a sales tax hike to go for fire suppression and fire prevention. [31:32] Do you support it? The mayor does. [31:34] And is it a bad precedent to start going to the ballot for sales tax hikes for fundamental public social services [31:43] in terms of law enforcement as well as public safety? [31:48] In this case, you have 30 seconds. [31:51] Great. I do support this measure, and I know that it's an additional tax on residents who are feeling the pinch already. [31:59] But we do need more firefighters. We need more fire stations. [32:03] We need to update our engines. [32:05] But I do want to underscore here that we are in this moment of going back to taxpayers [32:09] to ask them to pay more for public safety because of the fiscal mismanagement of this mayor. [32:14] Last year, we were in a billion-dollar budget deficit under her watch, [32:19] and she has continued to approve boondoggle projects [32:23] that will take hundreds of millions of dollars out of our budget going forward. [32:27] We're begging the taxpayers for more money to do our basic services because of fiscal mismanagement. [32:33] So yes or no, are we ready right now for a disaster? [32:36] I hope we are ready. I hope we are ready. [32:38] We're going to be ready in the district as best as we can. [32:41] We're going to work with all of our fire stations. [32:43] We're going to make sure that we have trucks pre-deployed. [32:46] We've worked on brush clearance. [32:48] I hope we are ready. [32:50] But, you know, I would feel better with a different leader in place. [32:54] All right. Mayor? [32:55] Yeah, let me just say that it's just completely disingenuous to say that it's fiscal mismanagement [33:01] is the reason why we don't have enough fire stations and we need to have more firefighters. [33:06] You know that some of these problems have taken place over many decades. [33:10] It's disingenuous and, frankly, it's dishonest. [33:13] All right. Let's talk about the other big fire that affected Southern California, the city of L.A., in June. [33:20] A fire at the Lineage Warehouse in Boyle Heights burned for days. [33:23] It forced residents to evacuate to leave their homes and sent a huge plume of dark smoke over Boyle Heights and surrounding communities. [33:31] 85 million pounds of rotting food caused a horrible stench that lasted for weeks. [33:36] People were treated for respiratory and other health issues. [33:40] Mayor Bass, people who live there say mistakes were made during this fire. [33:45] In hindsight, is there anything you could or would have done differently? [33:49] And you have 60 seconds. [33:50] Well, let me just say that there was a lot of information and confusion at the point of the fire. [33:56] One of the things that I did right away was walk the neighborhood, talk to the neighbors, ask them exactly what they needed, [34:04] which resulted in us relocating over 1,300 residents, providing food, providing cash assistance, health care, ways to deal with the rodents and the flies. [34:17] We brought medical services to them. [34:19] There was a lot of things that residents needed. [34:22] And, you know, I think that what happened is something that all communities, especially inner-city communities, next to commercial properties, big residential areas, are at risk for. [34:33] So I am proud that we advocated for three pieces of legislation to hold companies accountable to make sure this doesn't happen again. [34:42] And I issued an executive directive to halt the rebuilding of Lineage, considering the damage that was done to the neighborhood. [34:49] Councilwoman, what assurances do you give the public that you have the managerial chops to handle this any differently? [34:57] And what would you have done differently? [34:59] You know, what I saw in the Lineage fire was the same lack of response to a crisis that we saw in the Palisades. [35:08] And a failure of leadership on the part of this mayor and of this city. [35:13] As black smoke billowed from the warehouse fire into the surrounding communities, this mayor, against public health advice that was being provided, [35:22] told residents multiple times that the air was safe, that the smoke was safe to breathe. [35:26] When I spoke to residents who were in the communities around, when I door-knocked them, [35:31] every single resident told me that they had gone to the hospital, they had visited doctors, [35:35] they faced respiratory illness, and they had not seen enough presence from this mayor's office in their neighborhoods. [35:42] I would have done things very differently. [35:44] If I am mayor, I'll have public health advice in my office so that I don't have to rely on the county. [35:50] I will make sure that our community is met with resources, evacuation support, [35:56] and the information they need in the languages that they need, which this community did not get during these fires. [36:01] Thank you. [36:02] Alejandra. [36:03] Moving on to another important topic, which is immigration. [36:07] Mayor Bass, even though you supported it in the past, in your 2025 proposed budget, [36:13] you excluded Represent LA Funds, a program that provides immigrants with free legal services or representation. [36:21] What does this say about your support for LA's immigrant community? [36:26] You have 60 seconds to respond. [36:28] Well, I have supported and been involved in the immigrant community, [36:31] especially immigrant right issues, for many, many years, [36:35] which is why I have a strong collaborative relationship. [36:38] As a matter of fact, when the raids happened, I worked and convened all of the immigrant rights organizations. [36:45] We developed a series of policies that were needed. [36:48] I issued executive orders to, one, order that ICE could not stage from any city property. [36:55] We provided cash assistance. [36:57] We provided health care and other resources when families were afraid to leave their homes. [37:02] Just the other day, the immigrant rights organization stood with me when I put into law the idea, [37:11] the signs that would be posted on all city property. [37:14] So I was there fighting against ICE, even went to MacArthur Park and confronted them, [37:21] which was something that I was so appalled because I knew that LA was being used as an experiment. [37:27] We also ordered organized congressional hearings. [37:31] You're out of time. [37:32] I just want to know, yes or no, was it a budget issue that you excluded the representer lay funds from your budget? [37:39] No, no, no, no, no, no. [37:40] We knew that we could get resources outside from philanthropy. [37:43] Thank you, Mayor. [37:46] Councilwoman Rahman, you are asking Latino voters to trust you, and you're doing it in Spanish as well. [37:52] You have called for eliminating ICE, and you co-authored the sanctuary city ordinance. [37:58] If federal law supersedes local laws, how exactly would you protect immigrant families, [38:05] considering the ordinance cannot stop lawful ICE operations? [38:10] And we want you to be very specific. [38:12] Absolutely. [38:13] You have 60 seconds to respond. [38:14] Absolutely. [38:14] I am an immigrant to America myself. [38:18] I'm an immigrant to this country, and the actions of the Trump administration on our streets are so horrifying to me. [38:24] They cut at the heart of what it means to be an American, what it means to be an Angeleno. [38:28] Immigration defense, represent L.A., what this mayor cut to $0 in our city budget is one of the most important interventions that you can make [38:38] to make sure Angelenos who are detained by ICE have the legal support they need to get out of detention and get back into their families. [38:46] It is one of the most important things that we can do to protect residents of the city. [38:51] Here's something else. [38:52] Ensure that our LAPD is not sharing data with ICE. [38:57] With the use of flock cameras, with license plate searches that LAPD has done for ICE, as has been reported in the press, [39:07] tear gassing of protesters who are protesting ICE, what we have seen over and over again [39:12] is that this mayor has lost the trust of immigrants in this city in their response to ICE. [39:17] Your time's up. Mayor, do you want to respond to that? [39:20] Yes, it's just difficult to respond. [39:22] It's difficult to respond when somebody says things that are completely inaccurate, [39:26] but I will tell you that I was on the front lines of this issue from day one. [39:31] I convened council members. [39:33] I convened mayors from around the city. [39:36] I did a Zoom call with over 100 mayors around the country [39:39] because I knew what was happening in L.A. was going to spread nationally. [39:44] I think it's very important not to lie to the people [39:46] and not to make them believe that what you can do can supersede federal policy [39:51] because it cannot, but I do think it is important to prepare and to fight back and to resist. [39:58] Thank you, Mayor. [39:59] So, listen, everybody talks about we need to build more housing. [40:02] Grand Corporation, the Lewis Center at UCLA say we've stopped building apartment buildings [40:07] because of a ballot measure that was passed that essentially taxes any piece of property over $5 million. [40:12] It's the highest tax of its kind in the nation. [40:16] Blair Bestin is the chief executive officer for the Historic Core Business Improvement District. [40:20] Let's hear from her. [40:21] Measure ULA was sold as a mansion tax, but it hits every sale over $5 million, [40:27] including apartment buildings and businesses, and it's choking housing production and lending. [40:32] Would you fight to get it limited to luxury single-family homes as voters were led to believe? [40:41] So, Councilwoman Rahman, you were a big supporter of that ballot measure. [40:45] You have a degree in civil and regional planning. [40:49] Yeah, urban planning. [40:49] Right. [40:50] So how did you not see this coming? [40:53] Yes. [40:53] How was it a surprise that all of a sudden apartment buildings would end up, [40:57] the permits would drop through the floor? [40:59] Well, I have a habit of looking at the data. [41:01] I always look at the data and studies that were done at the time, [41:04] because I care about housing production deeply. [41:06] It's one of the most important things that can help us address the cost of housing here in L.A. [41:11] We have a shortage of housing. [41:13] We have the fewest homes per adult of any city in America [41:16] and the highest rent burden population of any city in America. [41:19] And for me, ensuring that we're able to build more housing here in this city [41:23] is essential to the resilience of this city, [41:26] is essential to maintaining our American dream here as a city of opportunity. [41:31] And I looked at the data, and the data suggested before the measure was passed [41:35] that it would not impact new housing construction. [41:38] When the results of the measure started to come in, [41:42] I looked at the data again and said, [41:44] we need to reform it because this issue matters too much to voters. [41:47] And I stood up and made some of my allies angry. [41:51] I made some of my endorsing organizations angry. [41:54] But I do believe that this is still an important issue. [41:56] It still needs reform, and I'll fight for that reform if I am mayor. [41:59] So, Mayor Bess? [42:00] The most important thing is to get affordable housing built. [42:04] And we have built more affordable housing in the last four years [42:07] than has been built in many, many years before that. [42:11] I have fast-tracked the building of 47,000 units that are going through the process now. [42:17] 10,000 units of affordable housing is available for occupancy right now. [42:23] I do think that anything that is going to inhibit housing is something that needs to be examined. [42:28] I was very much involved in an effort to reform ULA on the state level. [42:34] We brought everything together, and unfortunately, at the last minute, the deal collapsed. [42:39] I think that it is interesting that my colleague over here who has put affordable housing [42:44] as one of the main parts of her platform in terms of the 15 members of council [42:50] has one of the worst records of building affordable housing in her district. [42:56] She's built one of the fewest units of housing in her district. [43:00] You have 30 seconds to respond. [43:02] Yes, I mean, as many of you know, my district was redistricted a few years ago, [43:08] a year after I was elected, and primarily includes only single-family home zones, [43:14] which are not, it's not possible, it's not zoned for affordable housing. [43:18] Despite that, I have still pushed for more affordable housing construction, [43:23] and actually the amount of affordable housing construction in my district [43:26] has gone up 16 times under my leadership, [43:29] and I have pushed to ensure that these kinds of policies [43:32] that can actually generate new units are in place across the entire city. [43:36] In continuing with that theme, housing is a priority for young people. [43:41] LMU is a partner in this debate, so we went to the campus to talk to students about life [43:45] as they begin to enter the job market. [43:48] Let's listen in. [43:50] How am I going to be able to afford to live my life in L.A.? [43:53] I really want to know that, like, my job is going to be able to pay for my housing. [43:57] Is there enough growth opportunity economically and with jobs [44:00] to be able to fund the ability to live here? [44:04] I'm first generation, so I love L.A. [44:06] I think this is where I want to plant my roots. [44:07] As time is going by, I don't really feel like that's very possible. [44:10] After I graduate, it would be a dream to live in L.A. [44:14] I don't think currently it is a possibility. [44:16] If elected, how are the candidates going to make L.A. affordable again? [44:22] Okay, Mayor Bass, what would you say to these students, [44:24] and do we have to embrace density housing here? [44:28] Well, I do think we have to embrace density housing, but the question is how. [44:32] And so what I would say to those students there [44:34] is that we have 10,000 affordable units ready for occupancy right now. [44:39] The other thing that we're doing is converting vacant office space into housing, [44:44] and a lot of those units, and there's hundreds of them now, [44:46] are really designed and targeted toward younger people. [44:50] There's other factors in affordability that need to be addressed. [44:53] Yes, child care is a very big factor, and we are providing child care in city parks, [44:59] but we want to massively expand it through a public-private partnership. [45:03] Mayor, thank you. [45:03] Councilwoman Rahman. [45:05] We desperately need to address the cost of housing. [45:08] It is the single biggest driver of the cost of living here in Los Angeles. [45:12] It's driving working families out of the city every single day. [45:16] We are actually the city that has had the largest drop in people under 18 of any major city in America [45:22] because working families with children cannot afford to live here anymore. [45:25] Young people like the ones that we just saw cannot build their dreams here anymore. [45:29] So how do we make the changes? [45:30] We have to cut the red tape at City Hall. [45:33] This mayor has paid lip service to that, [45:35] but Los Angeles is still one of the most expensive and longest places to build in the country. [45:41] Under my leadership, I would change that. [45:43] Councilmember Rahman, thank you. [45:44] Thank you. [45:45] Can I respond to that? [45:47] We're getting very tight on time, but yes, you have 30 seconds. [45:52] Councilwoman, I can't believe that you don't know how much we have accelerated affordable housing. [45:58] Executive Directive 1 cut the red tape and accelerated it tremendously, [46:04] so there are times certain. [46:05] That is not what the issue has been. [46:07] We have been able to build more affordable housing over these last four years [46:13] than have been built in many years before that. [46:15] That answer, you know, was simply not true. [46:19] We actually built the fewest apartments last year in a decade here in L.A., so I just want to... [46:25] I lost the data, too. [46:26] Yes, well, I encourage you to look at it. [46:29] I have. [46:30] Yes, we need to move on. [46:31] Next topic, and it has become a nightmare for residents and homeowners and its problem properties. [46:38] Just yesterday, a historic church in South L.A. caught fire again. [46:43] This abandoned property burned in 2013, again in 2024, and again Monday, just yesterday. [46:49] Complaints have been filed with the city since 2013, and last month, the city deemed the location an imminent hazard. [46:58] Why does it take more than 12 years, 12 years, to remedy a property like this, [47:04] and what are you going to do to address the legal barriers that stand in the way? [47:09] Councilwoman Rahman, you have 60 seconds. [47:12] Yeah, we have dealt with these kinds of problem properties in my districts, [47:16] and the departments that are responsible for addressing these kinds of properties [47:22] simply do not work fast enough and don't talk to each other enough to actually get results fast enough. [47:28] And we've had property after property that has taken years to address basic complaints. [47:33] Here is what I would do differently. [47:36] I would ensure that the Department of Building and Safety and the City Attorney's Office [47:39] that have to communicate in order to actually bring the kinds of charges against building owners [47:45] that will force them to take action, [47:47] I would ensure that that communication happens much more quickly. [47:50] I would ensure the Department of Building and Safety inspectors were actually going to the site [47:54] far more regularly and lowering the threshold for the kinds of actions [48:00] that the city can actually proactively take to secure houses. [48:03] Under this mayor's leadership, departments simply are dysfunctional, [48:08] and council offices are left to their own devices to try and resolve long-standing problems. [48:13] Thank you, Councilwoman. [48:14] And it is unacceptable. [48:15] Thank you, Councilmember. [48:16] Mayor, your turn. [48:17] Yes, let me just say that when you do have nuisance properties in the Councilwoman's District, [48:24] because she is contemptuous of her constituents, [48:27] they call my office and reach out to my office to get the situation handled. [48:34] We need to expedite the clearing of these properties, [48:39] and so I put $2 million in the budget so that we could clear it, [48:43] because we can clear the properties and then charge the owner. [48:47] But unfortunately, the council took that out, [48:49] and so I've asked that the council put the money back into the budget, [48:54] but I've also ordered Building and Safety to move anyway. [48:58] I know the council will support it this time, [49:00] and so we have told the departments they are to begin clearing or bordering up [49:05] nuisance properties right now around the city. [49:08] And then I hope that the councilwoman votes for it when it happens. [49:12] Can I... [49:12] We need to move on. [49:13] I just... [49:14] She called me contemptuous of my constituents. [49:16] Yes, I did. [49:17] This is completely untrue. [49:20] Constituents have to reach out personally to the mayor [49:23] in a debate at the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association. [49:26] She said that things get responded to when you call her personally. [49:29] This is a sign of departmental dysfunction. [49:32] You shouldn't have to call the mayor to get things done. [49:35] Departments should work. [49:36] And Angelenos know that. [49:37] They are desperate for a functional city. [49:39] They are desperate for change. [49:40] Mayor, very quickly. [49:41] Yes, I made a deal with you four years ago [49:44] because you had so many problems with your constituents, [49:47] and I offered to take care of your constituent issues. [49:51] You told me that you... [49:52] This is a lie. [49:53] This is a lie. [49:54] It is not. [49:55] I have been taking care of your constituents for four years. [49:59] Do the residents of Boyle Heights have your phone number? [50:01] Were they able to call you during the fire? [50:02] Absolutely, they do. [50:04] That's not what they told me. [50:05] We're going to move on to another question that also involves... [50:08] It's hyper-local, but it's demonstrative of a much bigger issue. [50:12] Forest Lawn Drives in your district, four lanes, people's speed. [50:15] You wanted it reduced. [50:16] Went to Department of Transportation to two lanes. [50:19] At some point, three lanes. [50:20] Bicycle lanes on both sides. [50:23] Mayor, you interceded at the last minute before the construction began. [50:26] We'll have you explain why. [50:28] But first, Councilwoman, what does this project say about your view of traffic circulation and traffic safety? [50:34] Traffic violence is one of the most important issues facing Los Angeles right now. [50:38] We actually lost more people to traffic-related violence than we did to homicides last year. [50:44] This is an enormous public health crisis and deserves to be treated as such. [50:47] And as a parent of young children who walk a lot of places in my neighborhood, [50:52] for me, this is something that's really important, and I know it's important to so many Angelenos. [50:56] This was a stretch of street or road in my neighborhood where there has been multiple, [51:04] multiple deadly crashes over the last few years. [51:07] We proposed an intervention that would have created protected space for cyclists [51:12] to be able to go into Griffith Park and enjoy the park, [51:15] but also would have maintained space for cars and had long turn lanes [51:19] for people to be able to get in and out of the two cemeteries that are there. [51:24] We spent three years doing community outreach on this project. [51:29] We were ready to move, but because of lobbying and outside influence, [51:33] this mayor stopped the project last minute, and now it's not moving forward. [51:36] And it's a shame. [51:37] This is why projects don't move forward quickly in the city. [51:40] That's why everything costs so much. [51:42] So, Mayor Bass, did you intercede on behalf of Forest Lawn and Mount Sinai cemeteries? [51:47] Oh, I intervened on behalf of the residents in the area who were very concerned [51:52] that traffic was going to be more congested by reducing the lanes. [51:56] And so the proposal that we are pushing forward allows for the bike lanes to be protected, [52:02] but it does not reduce the number of lanes for cars. [52:08] I am a big believer in bike lanes. [52:11] I think that is really important, but the last thing in the world Angelenos need [52:15] is for you to have longer commute times because of that. [52:21] And then, you know, when we're talking about influence, [52:23] I think there's very influential people who are supporting your campaign [52:27] who are very, very much advocates for bike lanes. [52:32] Thank you. [52:32] Thank you very much. [52:34] Let's talk about Hollywood. [52:35] Hollywood is struggling. [52:36] Sean Linnell is a film editor, an IOTC member who's been unemployed for months. [52:41] Here's what he has to say. [52:42] There's a lot of people who want to stay here, stick it out. [52:46] Myself, I've been here 22 years. [52:48] I've been on this journey since high school. [52:51] A lot of, I went to film school, got my BFA. [52:53] A lot of us have put our whole lives into this. [52:56] I'm 50 years old. [52:57] I'm too young to retire, but I can't start anywhere new because I'm 50 years old. [53:01] But my question to the candidates are, how would you bring work back to L.A.? [53:10] Okay, Mayor Bass, we're going to begin with you. [53:12] What would you say to Mr. Linnell? [53:13] Well, first of all, when I was elected by my peers to be Speaker of the Assembly in Sacramento, [53:18] I was able to get the first film tax credits on the governor's desk. [53:23] I participated in advocating for the expansion of the film tax credits. [53:27] I was happy about that. [53:28] But I also said, what can we do in the city to make it easier to film? [53:33] I appointed a film czar who provides concierge services for filmmakers who want to film here. [53:40] And I've also reduced the price that it costs to film at locations, sometimes as much as 70%. [53:47] It has been very helpful to the city that I served in Sacramento and also Washington, D.C., [53:52] and now advocating for the federal tax credit. [53:55] My colleague, unfortunately, promotes this but has never introduced one piece of legislation for the industry. [54:02] Mayor Bass, we're out of time. [54:02] Sorry. [54:03] Council Member Rahman, what's your plan? [54:05] So this is an issue that's personal to me. [54:07] My husband is a writer. [54:08] We see the decline of the industry impacting our own household and our community every single day [54:13] and in Council District for so many of my constituents. [54:16] I feel an urgency about it. [54:18] That means making sure we have a real, fully staffed film office with people who have production knowledge in it, [54:24] not a part-time person, as this mayor finally appointed, three years after she started, [54:30] and tens of thousands of jobs lost already. [54:33] I would also advocate for an uncapped tax credit in Sacramento. [54:37] That's the kind that Georgia has. [54:39] That's the kind that New Jersey has. [54:40] That's taking jobs away from here. [54:42] This mayor only started talking about this tax credit after I entered the race. [54:46] I feel an urgency about this issue, a real urgency, and Angelenos need that urgency from their mayor. [54:52] That's completely untrue. [54:53] I was involved in advocating for the state tax credit and involved in advocating for the federal tax credit. [55:00] What we have done with the industry, we've done in partnership with the industry. [55:05] So when you thought I didn't do anything on the tax credit, I was busy advocating in Sacramento [55:11] and also participating with the industry here. [55:15] The industry is personal to me, too. [55:17] I have family that are directly involved, as a matter of fact, going back two generations. [55:23] Mayor, Councilwoman, thank you. [55:25] Now, before we wrap up, each of the candidates will have an opportunity to deliver a one-minute closing statement. [55:33] We're going to begin right now with Councilmember Rahman. [55:36] Thank you so much. [55:37] Thank you to all of you. [55:39] Angelenos, we cannot afford another four years of decline, of mismanagement, of excuses. [55:47] Homelessness is rising despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent. [55:52] Storefronts are closing. [55:54] Our tax money is being wasted. [55:55] And through it all, we've had a mayor who has been MIA, missing in action. [56:00] Even as fires raged in Boyle Heights and in the Palisades, she was missing. [56:06] We can do better. [56:07] This can be better. [56:10] When the mayor is confronted with issues, she blames the system. [56:15] With your support, we can actually change the system. [56:17] We can build a city that is functional, that is affordable, where people are welcomed here to build their dreams once again. [56:25] We can be joyful and ambitious again. [56:28] And if you choose differently in November, I believe that we can build that city together. [56:33] So thank you all so much for tuning in. [56:35] Mayor Bass, you're up. [56:36] Let me just say that it has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as mayor of the city where I was born and raised. [56:42] I've dedicated my life to public service and for fighting on behalf of Angelenos. [56:47] I left Congress three years ago because of the crisis on our street. [56:51] We have reduced street homelessness for the first time, 11 percent, with veterans 40, 50 percent. [56:58] We have expanded transit. [57:00] And I stood up to Trump administration when they invaded our city. [57:05] We really have to think about this decision. [57:07] Do we really want to turn our city over to someone who has repeatedly voted to not remove encampments from in front of schools, repeatedly voted to not hire additional police officers? [57:23] We are 640 days away from the greatest sporting event in U.S. history. [57:30] And I believe that the city would be destabilized with someone who has extreme views and basically has not been able to build relationships, not on city council and not with her constituents. [57:42] Now is not the time to turn the city over to Nithya Raman. [57:46] We have just a couple of seconds before we go. [57:48] So this is a subject maybe we all can agree on, and that is the Dodgers. [57:52] Yes. [57:53] Advice for game three tomorrow night. [57:55] Just a few seconds. [57:56] Oh, gosh. [57:56] I don't know. [57:57] Are they benching Otani? [57:58] Is that what's happening? [58:01] We're not sure. [58:01] We're not sure. [58:03] We don't want to debate that. [58:04] I know. [58:04] Let me just say, three-peat. [58:06] Three-peat. [58:07] I'm putting my money on a three-peat. [58:09] Here's one comment you don't get from a lot of news people. [58:12] You can't have leaders without candidates. [58:14] So thank you very much for coming. [58:16] And thank you for running. [58:16] Thank you to all of you. [58:17] And once again, thank you to both of the candidates, and thank you for joining us tonight, live [58:22] on NBC4 and Telemundo 52. [58:25] Our election coverage continues next on our NBC4 and Telemundo 52 streaming channels. [58:31] Scan the QR code that you see right there. [58:33] Ballots for the general election on November 3rd, Tuesday, have been mailed out. [58:37] Get out and vote. [58:39] Have a great evening. [58:40] We want to watch this.