If the mayor thought that bringing the “heavyweights” of Latino representation to the meeting with residents affected by the Boyle Heights fire would help, she was mistaken.
Neither Hilda Solis nor Maria Elena Durazo managed to contain the anger and helplessness of residents who, for weeks, have endured uncertainty and the inaction of city and county officials.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass struggled to open the meeting over the loud boos and shouts from community members. The same reaction greeted other elected officials as they took the microphone. The crowd grew even louder when Lineage Chief Operating Officer Jeff Rivera took the stage and was met with a chorus of “Liar!”
“Let me straight up apologize for any confusion, miscommunication, and misinformation that was put out, especially at the beginning when the fires were still burning, especially anything that I have said about whether or not the smoke was harmful,” Bass said. “I am very clear that all smoke, under all circumstances, is harmful.”
The town hall in Boyle Heights, where residents affected by the Lineage fire were supposed to get answers, seemed more like a runway for public officials showcasing how well they believed they had done their jobs.
“We didn’t come here to hear how ‘well’ you’ve done your jobs,” one resident said. “We came to hear not just words, but commitments from you and to learn about the concrete actions you will take.”
Another resident, speaking to the dozens of people who filled the auditorium, told the crowd they had been discriminated against. The mayor, Supervisor Hilda Solis, and Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, the speaker said, had been nowhere to be seen except in television cameras, handing out a few air purifiers “for the photo op.”
Another one criticized Bass for declaring during the first days of the fire that the air quality was not dangerous and there was no need to evacuate. “Would you, the supervisor, and the councilwoman sleep in our homes and breathe the air we’ve been breathing?” she asked.
What Mayor Bass, Supervisor Solis, and Councilwoman Jurado had previously avoided discussing, they addressed that night. They acknowledged communication failures, admitted they had not found effective ways to get information to residents, and conceded that available resources had been insufficient.
“It’s election season. You want our votes, and we will make you pay for what you’re doing to us. This is discrimination. You asked us to stay home, trapped, at the risk of developing serious health problems. Would this have happened if this were Beverly Hills?”
“We are one community and one city, and we are making sure we get the solutions needed,” protest leader Jazmine Garcia said. “This is about quality of life. This is about not being ignored anymore.”
“I am very disgusted with how this response has played out in real time,” one Boyle Heights resident, who declined to give their name, told The Times. “I feel that leadership at all levels—from Lineage to the city, the state, and even the federal government—has failed us.”
As 57-year-old Antonia Montes left the town hall, she said she felt frustrated and that the meeting had not solved the problems facing the Boyle Heights community.
“I think what it proved is that the politicians, Karen Bass, and the company, Lineage, don’t know what they’re doing,” she said. “They don’t know how to handle this situation. They don’t know how to clean up this mess.”
