Left-Wing Governance Is Destroying Cities Like Los Angeles – Citizens Deserve Better
Mike R. Pompeo
American Center for Law and Justice
June 5, 2026
The Los Angeles mayoral election – which will proceed to a runoff in November – has once again trained the national spotlight on the incredible dysfunction of this major American city. As both an American and a Californian who grew up in nearby Orange County, it pains me to see what decades of Leftist misgovernance have wrought in this once-great metropolis.
Incumbent Karen Bass’ disastrous mayoralty represents all the predictable consequences of progressives’ policies, intensified by her administration’s extraordinary incompetence and outright negligence. From failing to fund the fire department to leaving the reservoirs dry, Bass’ administration vastly compromised the city’s ability to contain the January 2025 wildfires that devastated Los Angeles. Thanks to their incompetence, more than 16,000 homes and businesses were destroyed, while the city and state’s onerous regulations are making rebuilding a nightmare of bureaucratic red tape and expensive delays.
While the hellish destruction wrought by the wildfires is unique to Los Angeles, the city also shares a problem common to blue cities across the country: sprawling homeless encampments that represent a massive threat to community well-being. Residents of cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco who are trying to get to work, take their kids to the playground, or walk their dogs must stay on the lookout for stray hypodermic needles littering the ground, or be ready to steer their frightened children away from mentally ill individuals who should be receiving treatment, but are instead left to have psychotic episodes in public.
Read the full article HERE.