No Water, No Mayor, But Plenty Of Diversity
Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, is deservedly under fire (No pun intended).
Bass, Janisse Quinones, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), and Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Chief Kristin Crowley are all preoccupied with DEI instead of doing their jobs effectively.
Bass was out of the country as part of a U.S. delegation to Accra for the inauguration of Ghana President John Mahama. She also had a meeting scheduled with Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who’s making history as Ghana’s first female vice president, which I’m guessing was more important to Bass than the inauguration.
Bass was gone when the fires started and is reportedly now on her way back to the city. However, she is not only being criticized for being MIA, but she is also under scrutiny for cutting the LAFD 2024-25 budget by $17.6 million. Her initial proposal called for a $23 million cut. The $17.6 million reduction was the second-largest budget cut of the year, trailing only behind the city’s street services, which had $21.6 million slashed.
The first paragraph of LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley’s Bio touts her as the department’s “first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief.” The second paragraph begins with the statement that “Chief Crowley leads a diverse department.” Then, to further emphasize the point, her bio concludes with the assertion that “creating, supporting, and promoting a culture that values diversity, inclusion, and equity while striving to meet and exceed the expectations of the communities” constitute the chief’s priorities.
The third Los Angeles department that deserves probing is the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), led by Janisse Quinones, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer. According to Open The Books, a government transparency organization, this department has eight of the top ten highest-paid city officials.
According to the local news outlet ABC7, Quiñones assumed the CEO position at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) in May 2024, with an annual salary of $750,000. This compensation package represents a significant increase compared to that of her predecessor. At the time, Los Angeles City Council officials indicated that the higher salary was essential to attract top talent from the private sector, especially given the challenges associated with meeting green energy targets.
Quiñones is not the only LADWP employee earning a significant salary. In 2023, LADWP Load Dispatcher Mark Chambers received an impressive total compensation of $857,458, which includes his salary, overtime, and other types of pay. Fellow load dispatcher Kenneth McCrank earned nearly $787,000 that same year, according to Open The Books. Additionally, Gary Carivau, an electrical services manager at LADWP, earned over $782,000.
According to Open The Books, electric distribution mechanic William Santana earned $763,675 in 2023, followed by LADWP Senior Electrical Repair Supervisor Jason Contreras with $763,195 in compensation for the same year.
Gregory Martin, the department’s electric distribution mechanic supervisor, earned just over $740,000 in 2023. LADWP Labor Supervisor Brad Weller completed the top ten list with earnings of $606,095.
Despite all the taxpayers’ money being spent on these exorbitant salaries, many of the city’s fire hydrants went dry, preventing the fire department from fighting the raging fires. For the record, Bass made just over $300,000 in 2023, making her the second-highest-paid mayor in the state, while Crowley pocketed around $440,000 to be a spokesperson for DEI.
In an attempt to defend the lack of available water, Quinones said:
“We had a tremendous demand on our system in the Palisades. We pushed the system to the extreme. Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure.”
James Woods, who lost his home to wildfires, took a shot at Crowley’s misplaced DEI priorities. He posted on X:
“Refilling the water reservoirs would have been a welcome priority, too, but I guess she had too much on her plate promoting diversity.”
The DEI obsession didn’t begin with Crowley at the LAFD, but she is definitely pushing it forward. Comedian Adam Carolla posted a 58-second clip on X describing how, when he was younger, he applied for a job at a North Hollywood fire station. According to Carolla, he was told he had to wait seven years to apply because he was not black, Hispanic, or a woman.
I think it’s curious that all three of these women represent DEI in some way. Bass is Black, Quinones was born and raised in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and attended the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Campus and Crowley, as her bio states, is the “first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief.”
There is plenty of blame to go around, and it appears that all three of these women contributed to the problem. DEI not only prioritizes race, gender, and sexual orientation over merit, but when it becomes the main priority of any organization or government department, it takes the focus off of other things that should demand more attention.
These fires are a cruel lesson that some foresight may have prevented or at least lessened. Wildfires are nothing new to California, and neither are the Santa Ana winds. However, when protection and prevention are not your highest priority, people and wildlife suffer.
