Karen Bass: “While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken.”

I’m not ready for primetime.

I have called councilmember Nithya Raman to congratulate her on her victory, and I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition.

Bass wants to hire more police officers, and she has branded Raman’s views on policing and homelessness as “extreme.”

Bass stresses the city has cleared dozens of encampments and brought thousands of people into shelter, but data show nearly half of them dropped out of the system and presumably returned to the streets.