L.A.'s Black leaders uneasy about Bass' prospects amid declining clout at City Hall

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Set us as preferred It was a sprawling street festival in the cultural heart of Black Los Angeles, and Mayor Karen Bass was making her campaign pitch again and again.Standing on a stage spanning the width of Crenshaw Boulevard, Bass urged the predominantly Black audience at the annual Taste of Soul gathering to send in their ballots, telling them about her roots in South L.A.and her crusade to reduce homelessness.“I ran for mayor because I didn’t want to see our people on the streets,” said Bass, clutching the microphone in 90-degree mid-October heat.

“We’re only 9% of the city, and we’re over 30% of the people in those tents.”Bass, the first Black woman to serve as Los Angeles mayor, is in the fight of her political career, facing a vigorous challenge from Councilmember Nithya Raman, who initially endorsed the mayor only to launch her own campaign at the 11th hour.To win the race, Bass will need to drive up turnout among the city’s Black voters and across her home turf in South Los Angeles.The latest Berkeley IGS/L.A.

Times poll found that Bass has closed an 11-point gap and is now in a dead heat with Raman.Yet the mayor continues to be dogged by stubbornly high disapproval numbers, leaving some of the city’s Black civic leaders on edge about Bass’ prospects — at a time when Black representation is already decreasing at City Hall.

City Councilmember Curren Price, who is also Black, steps down at the end of the year and regardless of the election’s outcome, his successor will be Latino.That will leave the council with two Black members out of 15 for the first time since 1963, not counting temporary vacancies, according to archivists in the City Clerk’s office.Karim Webb, who served until February as one of Bass’ airport commissioners, said it’s been painful to see the mayor in such a vulnerable...