Text messages to and from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass about January’s deadly Palisades Fire while Bass was on a trip to Africa were not saved, according to a newspaper report.
The Los Angeles Times filed a public information request for all text messages regarding the fire or Bass’ travel while she was in transit on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8. The newspaper was told that the Mayor’s Office had “no responsive records,” The Times reported Friday.
Asked for comment on the story Saturday, Deputy Mayor of Communications Zach Seidl referred City News Service to the comments of city lawyer David Michaelson, who told the newspaper that Bass’ phone “is set not to save text messages.”
Michaelson said there is “no requirement that a city official or employee save text messages.”
Both state and city law require government officials to save official communications, but Michaelson said the city law does not apply to text messages.
“As articulated in an Attorney General opinion, a record that must be retained is made for the purpose of providing future reference,” Michaelson wrote in an email to The Times. “Texts are ephemeral types of electronic communication, to use Supreme Court words, that afford `fleeting thoughts and random bits of information’ that provide an `ease and immediacy.’ Texts are not intended to provide future reference for the author or recipient let alone a public official record.”
The AG opinion Michaelson refers to is from 1981, before text messages existed.
Bass has been dogged by criticism for being out of the country when the fires broke out despite days of public warnings about a dangerous wind event heading for Southern California. The mayor was invited to take part in the official U.S. delegation attending the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Mahama on Jan. 7.