Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass appeared on MS NOW’s “The Weekend” to discuss her campaign in a pivotal mayoral primary against Republican Spencer Pratt. <\/p>\n
JONATHAN CAPEHART, CO-ANCHOR:\u00a0 Mayor — Mayor Bass, elections are more about the future than they are about the past.\u00a0\u00a0 LOS ANGELES MAYOR KAREN BASS:\u00a0 Right.\u00a0\u00a0 CAPEHART:\u00a0 You’re asking for people to give you a second term.\u00a0 What are you going to do in a — with a second term that you weren’t able to do in the first?\u00a0\u00a0 BASS:\u00a0 Well, let me just tell you, complete many of the things I’ve been working on.\u00a0 For example, we have a terrible problem in L.A. with copper wire theft, which means our street lights go out all the time.\u00a0 Well, about a month ago, I’ve rolled out a plan to install 60,000 solar lights moving away from copper.\u00a0 And we’re installing a couple of hundred a month.\u00a0\u00a0 Remember, Jonathan, and I know you know well, in a few short weeks we have the World Cup coming here.\u00a0\u00a0 CAPEHART:\u00a0 That’s right.\u00a0\u00a0 BASS:\u00a0 The whole world is going to be coming to Los Angeles.\u00a0 Two years later, we have the Olympics.\u00a0 And next year we have the Super Bowl.\u00a0 So Los Angeles’s future is bright.\u00a0 We have a lot to look forward to.\u00a0 And channeling people into all of that excitement is going to happen very quickly.\u00a0 Four days after the June primary, we have the U.S. Open for golf for women, and we’re having golf clinics for girls all around the city.\u00a0\u00a0 So there’s a tremendous amount to look forward to.\u00a0 But we have to continue getting people off the street, and we also have to continue dealing with our broken infrastructure.\u00a0 So I’m dealing with problems that have existed for three-plus decades, and I want time to finish my job.\u00a0\u00a0 JACKIE ALEMANY, CO-ANCHOR:\u00a0 Mayor Bass, quickly before we’re out of time.\u00a0 You know, you did previously say that the recovery for the Los Angeles fires in — in the Palisades and Altadena would be on track to be the fastest in California history.\u00a0\u00a0 BASS:\u00a0 Right.\u00a0\u00a0 ALEMANY:\u00a0 Do you acknowledge that this is not the case, despite permitting?\u00a0\u00a0 BASS:\u00a0 Oh, no, I absolutely will.\u00a0 And for the reasons that I said, the insurance industry and the banking industry is what — is what is holding people up.\u00a0 It is not the permitting process.\u00a0 I have passed or signed executive directives to fast-track rebuilding, to mush — move past the the red tape.\u00a0 And so that is going along OK.\u00a0\u00a0 As a matter of fact, when President Trump did his executive order saying that we hadn’t done permitting and sending out his EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, he was able to document that permitting is not the primary problem.\u00a0 There might be a speed bump here and there.\u00a0 The primary problem is banking and insurance.\u00a0\u00a0 EUGENE DANIELS, CO-ANCHOR:\u00a0 Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, thank you so much.\u00a0 We have reached out to Spencer Pratt to come on the show.\u00a0 Not heard back.\u00a0 Come on, Spencer, water’s fine, sort of.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n