Informal Bass advisor now working for Lineage, whose cold storage warehouse caught fire

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Set us as preferred A top informal advisor to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is working as a crisis communications consultant for Lineage Logistics, the company whose cold storage warehouse in Boyle Heights erupted in flames last month, inundating the surrounding neighborhood with toxic smoke and the odor of rotting food.Yusef Robb, who runs the firm tk/Communications, was a familiar presence at City Hall for the first half of the year, accompanying Bass at news conferences and delivering comments on her behalf on issues such as the city’s response to the Palisades fire.

Two days after the blaze at Lineage Logistics’ cold storage facility ignited on June 17, Robb began working for the company, aiding with communications consulting, he confirmed to The Times.Robb said he served as an unpaid advisor and spokesperson for Bass through the June 2 mayoral primary.

Robb declined to comment beyond confirming his scope and dates of work for the mayor and Lineage.Bass spokesman Kolby Lee said that Robb provided “extra help” to the administration during the first half of the year, but “has never been a city employee for the Bass administration.” Lee said that Robb continues to advise Bass on an informal basis, but he hasn’t communicated with Bass or her office “on behalf of Lineage.” Lineage Logistics’ 500,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Boyle Heights burned for more than a week after a rooftop fire ignited June 17, while the mayor was in Chicago for the opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.The fire sent plumes of black smoke over Boyle Heights and other parts of Los Angeles, leaving the air heavy with soot.The Boyle Heights community has turned much of its ire toward Lineage Logistics after the fire, with some calling for the company to leave the neighborhood where it has had a wareho...