Former Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley took the extraordinary step Thursday of appealing Mayor Karen Bass’ decision to dismiss her, in part, for her performance during a catastrophic wildfire that destroyed much of the Pacific Palisades.
The appeal, which would require the approval of 10 of 15 City Council members, is unlikely to succeed. But it will almost certainly cause further public turmoil for Bass, who has struggled to regain her political footing since the Palisades fire erupted Jan. 7.
The move comes less than a week after Bass ousted Crowley, criticizing the former chief for her decision not to fully pre-deploy engines amid dire wind forecasts and her alleged refusal to participate in an after-action report on the fire.
“I choose to proceed with the Council appeal provided for in Los Angeles Charter, Article V, Section 5.08(e), due to Mayor Bass’s removal of me, on February 21, 2025, from the position of Fire Chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department,” Crowley wrote just before 1:30 p.m. Thursday in an email to members of the City Council. “I look forward to hearing from you about next steps, if any.”
Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl said Thursday that Crowley “has the right to appeal her dismissal.”
The L.A. City Charter gives the mayor the power to remove most department heads, such as the fire chief, without City Council approval. The charter also gives Crowley the right to appeal the decision to the council within 10 days of her removal, with a two-thirds vote required to reinstate her.
Crowley will face an uphill climb in convincing 10 members of the council to side with her.
Four of the council’s members — including Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson — stood behind Bass at a press conference Friday as she announced her decision to remove Crowley.
In addition to those four, Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said he believes the mayor has “the right to hire and fire whom she wishes.”
“She needs to have the full confidence of her general managers and her chiefs. If she has lost that confidence, she has every right to change out the head of a department” or fire chief, he said in an interview earlier this week.
Blumenfield said he was also troubled by Crowley’s decision Jan. 10 to appear on multiple news shows decrying the lack of funding for her department, at a time when the Palisades fire was still burning out of control.
“While the fire is raging, the focus has to be on putting out the fires,” he said.