Ankler Hot Seat: U.S. Rep. Karen Bass
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Ankler Hot Seat: U.S. Rep. Karen Bass
A full transcript of the conversation between host Peter Kiefer and the Los Angeles mayoral candidate
This transcript of The Ankler Hot Seat podcast has been lightly edited for clarity.
Peter Kiefer:
Hi there, and welcome to The Ankler Hot Seat podcast. This is contributing editor Peter Kiefer, and today's guest is six-term congresswoman Karen Bass who is one of two candidates vying to become the next mayor of Los Angeles. Congresswoman Bass has received wide support from a number of celebrities and industry movers and shakers. And you'll hear all about that and plenty more, starting now.
Congresswoman, thank you for joining The Ankler podcast.
Rep. Karen Bass:
Thank you for having me on.
Peter Kiefer:
I want to start with a few questions that pertain specifically to the entertainment industry and then I'll broaden it out, and we can hopefully delve into a few other topics. But let's start with our current mayor, Eric Garcetti. Throughout his two terms, Mayor Garcetti has leaned heavily into his ties to the entertainment industry. He was integral in lobbying to help increase the budget of the state's film tax credit program. He's been a vocal cheerleader for media and entertainment and technology companies. He's got real friends in the industry, and he's a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild. How would a Mayor Bass build upon that legacy, and what plans do you have to help what is globally recognized as the signature industry of the city?
Rep. Karen Bass:
I come to this with deep ties to the entertainment industry as well. As a matter of fact, dating back two generations, if you can believe that. My grandmother worked in the entertainment industry. In my family, I have two family members that are deeply involved in the entertainment industry on the ancillary side. I've worked for years when I... Before I ever ran for office, I was on the board of an organization called Workplace Hollywood. The board was composed of representatives of all of the studios and community-based organizations. The goal of the organization was to diversify the below-the-line crafts, the cameramen, the grips, the people that make, mold, floor coverings, all of those various crafts. It led to a program that's currently at West LA College where young people can learn the crafts, and they can go through different modules so they can see which craft they might want to specialize in.
That was my start and, there, I began to be educated about filming and the need for tax credits, and so I made it a goal when I was in the state legislature that I would fight for the, first, tax credits, and I became speaker in my last term and working with Governor Schwarzenegger. He said that, if we could get a tax credit bill in the budget, that he would sign it. He didn't feel that he should personally champion it because he felt like it would look too self-serving. Late at night in the middle of one of our budget crises, we got a small piece of legislation in for tax credits. We knew that the tax credits would grow over time, but when I was leading the legislature, we were in the middle of the great recession, so it couldn't be a large amount, but it has grown ever since.
That was about 14 years ago, and then, when I've moved on to congress, I serve(d) on the intellectual property subcommittee and judiciary. On a congressional level, I've been working on piracy and copyright issues, so I am deeply aware of the significance of the entertainment industry. I think in Los Angeles, for too long, we took the industry for granted, and so we watched industries develop in Nashville and Atlanta and New Orleans, New York. We want to keep film production here, so I will definitely work closely with the industry.
I represent a lot of the industry in my congressional district, and so I'm looking forward to continuing that tradition and also making it easier to film in Los Angeles, one, from the industry's point of view, but also from the neighborhoods'. My specific neighborhood, where I live, there is filming. I mean, there's rarely a week that goes by that there's not big trucks here and something being filmed. We're all excited when that happens because we understand how we're contributing to the local economy.
Peter Kiefer:
Do you have a sounding board within the industry for trying to get the pulse and temperature of what's happening?
Rep. Karen Bass:
I've, again, worked very closely with the industry for so many years, yes, absolutely. Sony Fox, Amazon, Apple, they're all in my congressional district, so I work closely with them.
Peter Kiefer:
Do you have a group of people that you would plan on turning to? Are you comfortable sharing any names of somebody that you would pick up and place a phone call to, to just check in on and see how things are doing, what's happening? Are there any individuals specifically that you would check in with?
Rep. Karen Bass:
Probably the only one I would be comfortable talking about is Keith Weaver. Keith Weaver, who is one of the executives at Sony, but... and then you also know that the names change. Barry Meyer is someone else, who's the former CEO of Warner Bros.
Peter Kiefer:
Great. Great. You and I spoke briefly at a fundraiser that was hosted at Bad Robot which is, of course, the-
Rep. Karen Bass:
There you go, J.J. Abrams.
Peter Kiefer:
Yeah. Of course. Yeah, which is, of course, the company owned by J.J. Abrams. The event itself was co-sponsored by Shonda Rhimes. Having been at the event, I can attest that there were some serious legends and some serious heavy hitters present to come out to support you, but I just want to mention a few other names. Gwyneth Paltrow, Snoop Dogg, Disney's Dana Walden, Netflix's CEO Ted Sarandos and CAA's Bryan Lourd. They all are supporting, or they did at least during the primary, your opponent, Rick Caruso. Hollywood is a very famously liberal town, and yet Mr. Caruso, who only registered as a Democrat a few months ago, gained a fair amount of support. Were you surprised by that, and what does that indicate?
Rep. Karen Bass
No.
Peter Kiefer:
No?
Karen Bass:
No, I wasn't surprised at all. I mean, I know I have very deep ties in the industry. I certainly assumed that he did, too, but you know the industry, yes, overall, it's known as very liberal, but it's also diverse. Even within the spectrum of liberal, there's diversity there, so more power to him. I mean, he has his supporters. I have mine.
Peter Kiefer:
Right. It felt to me that some of those names in a different time in L.A.'s recent history would be backing an extremely well-respected African American woman who's a lifelong Democrat over a billionaire real-estate developer.
Rep. Karen Bass:
One thing that I do not know, I do not know the relationships. I have heard that Gwyneth has a store in one of his malls, and I've heard that they were close friends. I know for a fact that he's very close friends with Ted and, if I'm not mistaken, I think he went to college with Bryan. I mean, we all have our relationships, but the industry is vast, so it didn't surprise me. I don't know what his relationship is with Snoop. I thought that was interesting, but maybe it's his wine. I don't know. I think that a lot of people have supporters based on relationships, and my relationships are very long term.
Peter Kiefer:
I believe it. I'm just curious, did any of those people reach out to you to let you know why they were going to be supporting Rick as opposed to you?
Rep. Karen Bass:
No. No, and I wouldn't have expected them to. I do know Ted, and I barely know Brian. I don't know Gwyneth at all. I don't know Snoop, so I wouldn't have expected them to reach out to me.
Peter Kiefer:
Right. Right. Okay. I want to quickly take us back to the early days of the pandemic. There was a small scandal that erupted at the moment when restaurants and outdoor dining was shut down at the state level, and there was this video. I don't know if you caught it, but there was a video that went viral that showed a craft services truck at a location shoot. I think it was a feature film production that was serving food next to a restaurant that had been shut down by the state's ordinance. All of this understandably prompted cries that there was this double standard when it came to the entertainment industry. Do you think the entertainment industry is exceptional, and should it be treated differently from other industries in Los Angeles?
Rep. Karen Bass:
I don't think it should be treated differently. I don't know if it's exceptional. I do have a vague memory of that, but I think one of the things that that spawned... and it's interesting because I just came from a restaurant that participated in a program that we started in South L.A., we had some philanthropic dollars actually from Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Clippers. He donated a lot of money to South L.A. restaurants to help keep them open, but since they didn't have any customers, they made meals for seniors, and those meals were delivered. I do think that it sparked that dichotomy, I think sparked interest, and I'm pretty sure that the program that was started in South LA was after that.
Peter Kiefer:
Right. L.A. is not short on its problems, but when it comes to local film and television production, the city's been on a pretty, nice run the last few years. The streamers, Netflix, Apple, Amazon, a few of the others, they've created a real production boom, but that might be slowing down as the economy starts to cool down. Netflix, as you probably know, has recently laid off hundreds of employees. Are you at all worried that you might be coming into office as this boom era comes to an end? If you are, what powers does the mayor have to have to actually help ease that pain?
Rep. Karen Bass:
I will tell you that, yes, I am definitely worried about it. I do think that one of the issues though is that it's just an explosion in content. For a while, Netflix was the only thing going, and now there's, everybody streams. I mean, I think most people probably watch streaming more than I do television. I think a lot of people do that now. I could be inheriting a recession period not just related to the entertainment industry.
I know that the money that was given to the states because of the pandemic is not going to happen again maybe one more time, but, basically, L.A. would've been in a fiscal crisis two years ago if the federal government hadn't bailed them out. I do worry that by the time I would take office, if elected, that the economy might be turning, including the entertainment industry, but definitely not exclusive to the entertainment industry.
Peter Kiefer:
I got to ask you. The entertainment industry has a somewhat tortured history with the Church of Scientology. They're sort of tethered in a weird way. During the presidential race, an old video resurfaced of you giving a speech. I think it was to Scientologists or at a Scientology church of some sort. I got to ask. What is your relationship like with the Church of Scientology?
Rep. Karen Bass:
I have zero relationship with the Church. What I was doing was, it was a simple ribbon-cutting event. Like all of the elected officials do, there really wasn't anything unusual about what I did. Most of the elected officials in the area visited the same facility as well, but I have absolutely zero relationship with the Church of Scientology.
Peter Kiefer:
There was some speculation though that the church might have impacted the vice presidential sweepstakes. That's, I guess, what they were calling them. Looking back, do you think it did, and do you regret giving the speech?
Rep. Karen Bass:
No, I don't know if it did, but here is what I regretted. I regretted that the way the Church of Scientology used that because what they did, and this is why I would never go back again, for a simple ribbon cutting. They went around and promoted it as though it was something bigger than a ribbon cutting.
Peter Kiefer:
Okay. I'm going to broaden it out a little bit. I have to admit, personally, I was surprised by the results of the primary. I didn't think you were going to do as well as you did. Your opponents swamped the city with tens of millions of dollars in flyers and TV advertisements, and yet the final tally had you pulling in 43 percent of the vote compared to Rick Caruso's 36 percent. What do you have to do between now and November to ensure that you can at the very least maintain that lead?
Rep. Karen Bass:
First of all, tens of millions, he spent $40 million, and the police union spent $4 million, did nothing but pure attack ads. I think maybe it was a bit overdone. He said himself. When he was confronted with the notion that he was trying to buy the election, he said that he thought voters were smarter than that. I would agree with him. I think that they were. I think what's important is that I build a very broad base coalition that demonstrates that L.A. wants to move forward into the future and does not want to replay scripts from the past. I think that building a coalition is not just about collecting people to do a kumbaya. Building a coalition means you're marshaling the resources, power and influence in the city to address the city's problems.
Peter Kiefer:
You hear a lot about coalition building, but can I ask you, specifically, what does that look like in your case? What is the makeup of this coalition that you think sets you apart from your opponent?
Rep. Karen Bass:
Let me tell you. What sets me apart from my opponent is the fact that I've been doing this work in terms of building coalitions to address very difficult problems for a very long time and I have very deep relationships with people. A coalition to me means you’re bringing in grassroots folks from all parts of the city, but it also means you're bringing in the grasstops as well, meaning, elected officials, faith leaders, leaders of community organizations, academics, everybody to marshal the resources that we have in this city, and you do that.
Let's take the problem of homelessness for example. Homelessness is a complex issue that needs a comprehensive response. Just on the sheer governmental level, we need to have every level of government at the table, hand-in-glove, working together just like we would work together if we had had an earthquake. That's the government side. In order to address homelessness, we also need to have the neighborhoods working together because, if you have a situation where one branch of government is working, not in sync, in conflict with the other — that happens here all the time between the city and the county — you're not going to get the job done. If you have neighbors that say, "I don't care. I don't want these people living in my neighborhood, so I'm going to sue you," you can't get anything done.
Rep. Karen Bass:
The purpose of a coalition is to get everybody on the same page and marshal those resources so that you can actually address the problem. I think that my opponent has addressed problems differently because of his enormous wealth. I don't know that he has had to spend the time building those kinds of relationships, but I think that this is the kind of problem that we're facing that you can't just write a check and make it go away.
Peter Kiefer:
Right. That dovetails nicely with my next question. A number of consultants that I've spoken to have expressed a level of worry that this runoff that pits an African American woman who I think would be the first Black, female mayor of the city against a real estate-
Rep. Karen Bass:
First female mayor. Period.
Peter Kiefer:
Yeah, first. Thank you very much... against a real estate billionaire who happens to be white could get really ugly. Are you worried that the runoff could turn nasty and further crank up tensions in the city that already feels like it's on a razor's edge?
Rep. Karen Bass:
I think that that might be his campaign strategy. It will not be mine.
Peter Kiefer:
If it does, how would you handle it? Are you ready to punch back if it goes that way, and where do you think he's most vulnerable?
Rep. Karen Bass:
If somebody hits me, I don't have a problem hitting back. I'm not shy, but I do think that he is vulnerable in the sense that I do not believe... Now, I might be proven wrong, but I do not believe that he has deep ties in all these various communities with regular people.
Peter Kiefer:
Right. Switching gears, do you consider yourself a progressive?
Karen Bass:
Yes, absolutely, I do.
Peter Kiefer:
There's an image of Los Angeles, I think it's an external one, that it's this wildly progressive place.
Karen Bass:
Let me just say that progressive, just like conservative, are categories that represent a spectrum. There are people who consider themselves progressive who are on the far left. There's people who consider themselves progressive who are not on the far left.
Rep. Peter Kiefer:
Right. I guess, working with that definition, how progressive do you think the city is? Does the fact that Rick Caruso, a former Republican who made it into a runoff, does it... what does it... Does it dispense with that myth or what does that say about the political climate in Los Angeles right now?
Karen Bass:
Well, you know what? I have to tell you that I think we were all taken by surprise because the notion had been sent. The die, apparently, supposedly was cast that L.A. was getting ready to make a turn to the right, that L.A. was going to go in a conservative direction because crime was out of control, homelessness were out of control, people were angry and they were done with liberalism.
Rep. Karen Bass:
The election didn't demonstrate that, and I'm not referring to the mayoral election. I'm referring to the council elections. It demonstrated exactly the opposite. I don't know to be honest with you, and I don't think anybody else does. I don't know for a couple of reasons. Number one, we don't know what the electorate is going to look like in November and we don't know what's going to happen. I mean, the election is a few months away, and you know in politics a week is like a month, and a month is like a year. The election is four years away or five years away, and anything could happen.
Peter Kiefer:
Right. Right. We do know that California is a very blue state, maybe the bluest state in the United States-
Rep. Karen Bass:
That's right. That's right.
Peter Kiefer:
... and yet our governor, Gavin Newsom, who sits pretty far to the left on the political spectrum, has at least so far declined to endorse either you or Rick Caruso. You would strike me as the obvious candidate that he would throw his weight behind.
Rep. Karen Bass:
I agree.
Peter Kiefer:
Why do you think that he hasn't endorsed you, and does it upset you that he hasn't so far?
Karen Bass:
No, not at all. I mean, the primary was just a couple of weeks ago, I guess, maybe a month ago, so no. As the only Democrat in this race, I expect that Democratic leaders will endorse me. I don't think people are going to be fooled. I do think that there's more to being a Democrat than filling out a piece of paper. The Democrats represent a set of values and consistency, and so, with one Democrat in the race, I think that most Democratic leaders will be on the same page.
Peter Kiefer:
Are people working behind the scenes to make that happen, and how valuable would a Newsom endorsement be?
Rep. Karen Bass:
Well, I mean, he is the governor of the state. His endorsement will be very valuable. I certainly plan to seek it as I plan to seek the endorsement of every other Democratic leader in the state and country.
Peter Kiefer:
Okay. Speaking on the topic, on the topic of San Francisco politicians, the L.A. Times, you're probably aware the L.A. Times had an article that was speculating about your relationship with Vice President Kamala Harris. I think they used the term frenemies.
Rep. Karen Bass:
Yes. I don't know where this comes from. To me, it was almost tabloid-like.
Peter Kiefer:
It was an odd article. I mean, I think I know where it came from. I think it came from a couple of books that were released that detailed some of the behind-the-scenes work that was going on during the vice presidential sweepstakes, which you were on the short list for and obviously she was as well. I'm wondering, knowing that, do you think the vice president is doing a good job, and how would you characterize your relationship with her?
Rep. Karen Bass:
My relationship with her is fine. You know what? During the... We call them Veepstakes. During the Veepstakes, there were a number of efforts to try to pit the two of us against each other. There was one article that came out and called me the anti-Kamala, and I tweeted immediately, "Don't do that. I'm not anti-Kamala," and we both said that we were not going to allow this to happen. I considered it tabloid journalism. I was disappointed in it. I have no conflict with the vice president. I admire the work that she's done. I think that the attacks against her have been relentless. I mean, just having come from going through a few months of attack, she's been attacked from the time she was named as the vice president.
Peter Kiefer:
How about President Biden? His approval ratings are sagging right now. How do you think he's doing?
Rep. Karen Bass:
I think that President Biden has actually accomplished a lot. Unfortunately, and I think this is a problem that Democrats have, because we don't toot our horn, what we do is we talk about what hasn't been done instead of what has been done. I mean, I just came from press conferences with Secretary Buttigieg, ribbon cutting on Metro Light Rail Stations. That was finished. It was started years ago, of course, but it was finished in part with some of the infrastructure dollars.
Rep. Karen Bass:
Now, we went four years listening to Trump declare Infrastructure Week at least one week every month and never anything didn't even happen. Here, the Biden administration, along with both Houses of Congress, passes a historic infrastructure package, and the only thing Democrats are doing are talking about what we didn't get. I think part of it is our fault, but I think, given the constraints of an extremist Republican Party, because I do believe that the Republican Party was taken over by extremists, it's not the Republican Party. Even when I entered Congress, it's not the same Republican Party. I entered at the time the Tea Party took over. Now, the people that are in Congress make the Tea Party look like nursery school kids.
Peter Kiefer:
I don't disagree. I think that something has happened over there, but in the event that Joe Biden doesn't run in 2024, who would you support to step in and run on the Democratic Party's ticket?
Rep. Karen Bass:
We would have to see who runs, but I certainly assume that the vice president would throw her hat in the ring and would be the front runner. I'd be very open to supporting her. We just have to see where it all falls. I anticipate that he's going to run again, and I anticipate that she will be right there on the ticket with him.
Peter Kiefer:
I mean, you're seeing that headlines about Mr. Newsom potentially angling for a spot.
Rep. Karen Bass:
Yes. I mean, I think he is in Florida. We'll see what else he does. Newsom is a young man. I mean he has plenty of opportunities to run, and I bet he does. Whether he runs in 2024 is another story
Peter Kiefer:
Understood. Okay. The big ticket items that came up in the primary were homelessness, affordable housing, policing and crime. It felt like there is a bully pulpit component to what went on in the primary, but the reality is, the mayor of Los Angeles, it doesn't have the power that you see from the mayor of New York or the mayor of Chicago. I'm wondering what can you realistically hope to achieve as mayor on these hugely complex issues that only seem to be getting worse?
Rep. Karen Bass:
Well, you go right back to you will send me right back to the notion of a coalition because there is the power that is in the city charter and then there is the power that you take. That bully pulpit can be enlarged tremendously if you have all different sectors of the city. If you have the business community, labor, if you have community organizations, elected officials all up in arms because we have 50,000 people sleeping on the street, you can get stuff done.
Peter Kiefer:
You've spent a lot of time discussing your approach to homelessness and policing, but I wanted to ask you about another matter that I just don't think gets nearly enough attention, and that's water. We now have these highly draconian restrictions that have gone into place recently across the city, and scientists are saying this is maybe the worst drought in, what, like a thousand years. Is L.A. going to run out of water? Is this the existential thing that ends this crazy experiment that we call Los Angeles, and then why is this issue not discussed more?
Rep. Karen Bass:
Well, actually, I mean, I do think it's discussed a lot now especially because of the draconian measures that are put in place. I think it's discussed now more than it certainly has been in recent history, but I am proud to say that part of the infrastructure deal also address water. We spend an awful lot of money here, and I think that we really have to lean in on recycling because recycling will allow us to get past this. Of course, we already have recycling, but hopefully we will be able to expand it tremendously and then conservation. L.A. is known to be very good in terms of conservation, but we have to be even better.
Peter Kiefer:
I want to end this interview on a lighter note. What is the last movie you saw in a movie theater?
Rep. Karen Bass:
Oh, my goodness, what was the last movie I saw? You have to help me with the name of it, the guy that did Hamilton, and he did a musical.
Peter Kiefer:
Yeah, Lin-Manuel.
Rep. Karen Bass:
Yeah.
Peter Kiefer:
In the Heights? Is that... Was it?
Rep. Karen Bass:
Yes, In the Heights, In the Heights, the Heights. Yes. I know I've seen one since then, but that's the one I remember. I did want to go see the Minions though. That's the next movie I'm going to go see.
Peter Kiefer:
You're like the only person in America who hasn't seen Top Gun 2 in the theater, I think. No?
Rep. Karen Bass:
No. I would see the Minions first with my grandkids.
Peter Kiefer:
Okay, and then, finally, when the biopic is made about your life, which actress would you want to play you?
Rep. Karen Bass:
Oh, goodness, Kerry Washington or Alfre Woodard. That comes to mind right away.
Peter Kiefer:
The title of this film?
Rep. Karen Bass:
Full Circle.
Peter Kiefer:
Wonderful. Congresswoman Karen Bass, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate you coming on the show.
Rep. Karen Bass:
Thanks for having me on. Hopefully, you'll have me on again.
Peter Kiefer:
My thanks to Karen Bass for joining The Ankler Hot Seat podcast. We have an invitation out to Rick Caruso and to his campaign for a similar interview which we hope to bring to you soon. Until then, this is Peter Kiefer with The Ankler.