Mayor Karen Bass took her State of the City speech on the road Monday, staging a glossy, campaign-season address at the Expo Center instead of City Hall — a deliberate break from tradition as a high-stakes reelection year looms.
The off-campus production came with early hiccups: ongoing construction around the venue made parking confusing for many attendees who later waited for nearly an hour in Southern California heat ahead of the 3 p.m. speech.
About 500 people were in attendance, with union members filling the seats alongside Los Angeles City Council members, the City Attorney, and the City Controller.
The speech kicked off with full-blown pomp and circumstance — a brassy battle of the bands between crosstown rivals USC and UCLA, to pump up the crowd and set a high-energy, made-for-the-cameras tone in the room.
And when the speech began, the message was pure world-stage optimism: unity, global pride, big sports, big moments. The backdrop was carefully chosen. The timing even more so.
City Hall insiders are already calling this the first of two “victory laps” Bass is expected to take this election cycle — one off campus, one later this spring closer to budget season.
The co-founder and CEO of Angel City FC, Julie Uhrman, teed up Bass’ address, emphasizing the importance of sports and announcing the renewal of their partnership with LA’s recreational parks.
Uhrman unveiled a $3 million, three-year youth sports initiative expected to serve more than 45,000 girls and gender-expansive youth, while also highlighting new ‘Golf for Girls’ clinics and PlayLA, the city’s youth sports program backed by a $160 million investment from LA28 and the International Olympic Committee, before inviting Bass to deliver her address.
Bass name-checked the Palisades from the stage, applauding Angelenos who rushed in with food, water and open arms — a recycled riff that tracked almost word-for-word with last year’s speech. But when the one-year anniversary arrived on Jan. 6, the mayor was nowhere to be found in the Palisades, where residents gathered to grieve, vent — and demand results.
Those results remain elusive.
Talk of permitting reform and accountability hasn’t translated into rebuilt homes or moving bulldozers. Families are still marooned in temporary housing as half-finished lots sit untouched, progress crawling at a snail’s pace.
The disconnect grew sharper last week when the president stepped in, signing an executive order to slash permitting red tape and fast-track wildfire rebuilds — bluntly signaling federal intervention where local leadership has stalled.
The pitch: Los Angeles as a global showpiece
Bass framed Los Angeles as a city on the brink of international glory, pointing to a three-year stretch of mega-events — the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open, the 2027 Super Bowl, and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“When the world looks at Los Angeles, they won’t just see venues,” Bass said. “They will see our values, the diversity of our people, the pride in our shared home, and all that our neighborhoods offer.”
“Yes — the moment is big. Yes — the task is real,” she added. “But we will be ready.”
Bass repeatedly leaned on the idea of inclusion, insisting the coming global events would not be reserved for those with money or access.
“Let me be clear,” she said. “These moments will not belong only to those who can afford stadium seats. They will belong to all of us.”
She announced plans for free World Cup watch parties in public parks across every City Council district, with all 34 competition days broadcast on mobile LED trailers, along with soccer clinics and cultural programming.
The elephant in the room
It’s hard to miss the elephant in the room: Los Angeles’ homelessness crisis — visible along freeway off-ramps, sidewalks, riverbeds and parks — and impossible to ignore if you actually drive around the city.
Bass again pointed to Inside Safe, her signature homelessness program, as evidence of progress. She called ending street homelessness “one of the defining challenges of our time,” blaming decades of “policy failures, bureaucratic barriers, and rigid thinking.”
“Since I became mayor, we have moved with urgency,” Bass said. “We broke down silos, challenged policies that kept people trapped on our streets, and began building a coordinated system with one clear goal: end street homelessness.”
City data shows Inside Safe has cost more than $320 million, served just over 5,100 people, and cleared more than 110 encampments since late 2022. But only about 1,200 participants — roughly one in four — have reached permanent housing, while nearly half exited the program without a long-term solution.
Clean corridors, cleaner optics
Bass also unveiled a new “Clean Corridors Initiative” aimed at accelerating trash pickup, graffiti removal and landscaping along major routes — especially near World Cup watch sites and activation zones.
“I know, Los Angeles, we will be ready to welcome the world,” she said, pointing to “defining moments that will unfold on our streets, in our neighborhoods, and across this city we love.”
She promoted a Shine LA volunteer cleanup this weekend at Hansen Dam Recreation Center, which will double as an official World Cup fan zone.
The focus was unmistakable: camera-ready corridors polished for international visitors — even as large swaths of the city remain untouched.
The politics beneath the polish
The speech comes as maneuvering intensifies ahead of the 2026 mayoral race, with LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath publicly weighing whether to enter the contest. Horvath, whose district includes Pacific Palisades, has had a strained relationship with Bass, highlighted by a post–Palisades fire text exchange reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner is also in the race, along with Democratic Socialists of America–backed candidate Rae Huang and former reality star turned SoCal fire activist, Spencer Pratt.
Bass received a round of applause and a standing ovation from fellow pols as she called for the end of ICE activity in the city of Los Angeles adding that it was “Police states not united states.” She joined 130 mayors across the country to push back on what she described as Trump’s disregard for the law.
Bass also addressed the anti-ICE protests from the weekend, which saw over 50 detentions.
“Our city has always been about bringing people together, including to protest injustice,’” The mayor said urging Angelenos to continue protesting in what she called a ‘fragile’ democracy.
Before concluding the State of the City address, Bass said the “greatest city in the world” was ready for what’s ahead and pushed back against what she called a “reckless” federal government, adding she would not stand for its involvement in local affairs.
