With the Pallisades fire just 14% contained early Tuesday — and making threatening moves toward Brentwood and Bel Air — and high winds whipping up fresh trouble in Ventura County northwest of L.A., Californians are wasting no time making their displeasure with Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass with a pair of recall efforts.
While an official recall against Bass has yet to materialize, Fox Business' Elizabeth McDonald reported on X early this morning that there's already a petition circulating urging her to resign, and that a recall effort is "likely."
If the necessary 1.3 million signatures are collected, this would be the second recall election against Newsom in three years.
McDonald also reminded X followers that "The law does allow for Gavin Newsom to be criminally charged for negligence, along with Mayor Karen Bass."
If you thought that was all there was to it — forget it, Jake, this is California. McDonald also urged people to keep an eye on PG&E because the utility giant gave "Newsom’s campaign hundreds of thousands and could help stop this recall" after "Newsom signed a law in 2019 that limited PG&E’s financial liabilities for wildfires caused by their electrical equipment."
There's still more.
"The current head of the LA Water and Power Dept., Janisse Quinones, joined that water department from PG&E, where she ran electric operations and is now paid 72% more than her predecessor at $750,000 a year, as a reservoir serving the Pacific Palisades was allowed to stand dry and empty for a year for repairs. PG&E has spent millions to influence California politics, even after being convicted of felonies."
Quinones seems to have been hired more for her race, sex, and Puerto Rican background (and — let’s whisper this part — PG&E connections) than for her ability to keep hydrants working or reservoirs filled. The Daily Mail reported on Friday that Quinones "knew about empty reservoir and broken hydrants" months before the fires broke out yet did nothing. Before being hired by Bass, Quinones was a senior VP at the same PG&E that bought its way out of liability for previous wildfires.
Full quote: "Airdate 7/10/24) Janisse Quinones is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. She is the first Spanish-speaking and the first Latina to lead the agency. The LA DWP is partnering with KBLA Talk 1580 on a massive year-long climate justice initiative meant to amplify equity in the environmental justice space."
I'm not sure where the "climate justice" is in an empty reservoir, but maybe it's there if you squint hard enough.
Quinones's smiling face ought to be plastered on every recall petition.
It seems almost impossible that Newsom might lose another recall election, after squashing the last one 62%-38%. And it really doesn't matter whether those votes were legit or not because it would be the same Democrats counting them the next time around.
Bass might be a little more nervous. As I reported yesterday, Monday's NYT hit piece on Bass likely means that "the left is hanging her out to dry." Newsom is still the Democrat favorite for the 2028 presidential election and, if they have to sacrifice Bass to protect him, they'll do it gladly.
But you must admit that however the process plays out, we'll have to pop the corn by the metric ton.
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