Spring in Southern California has a certain rhythm: Dodgers fans return to Chavez Ravine, jacarandas begin to bloom, and the mayor of LA gives a speech – usually a long one – about how the city is doing.
Mayor Karen Bass, who is running for a second term in the June 2 election, is shaking up that trend, delivering two separate State of the City addresses about three months apart.
Bass said the first State of the City address, scheduled for Feb. 2, will serve as a break for the 2026 World Cup, which will be played for eight games at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium later this year. That speech is meant to bring the city together, honoring “the people, the neighborhoods and the culture,” according to the invitation that went out this week.
“It’s a day to really celebrate our city,” said Bass in an interview. “I mean, last year was very difficult, and now we’re ready to put things together to take on the world.”
The Feb. 2 speech, scheduled at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, will highlight the city’s efforts to ensure that everyone in LA, not just buyers of expensive World Cup tickets, will have the opportunity to participate in soccer’s global event, Bass said.
The second speech, scheduled for mid-April, will be on the State of the City, focusing on the mayor’s spending priorities and the release of his budget on April 20.
LA mayors often deliver a State of the City address during the third week of April, using it to list accomplishments and highlight new policy initiatives. In recent decades, they have been staged in the City Council’s lavish chamber, outside the Griffith Park Observatory and even at the Harbor City electric truck factory.
Bass’ scheduled speech on February 2 will be the first day that LA mayoral candidates are allowed to file paperwork with the City Clerk announcing their intention to run for the office.
Bass, who launched his campaign in December, is expected to face many challenges, including schools that once attended Supt. Austin Beutner, community organizer Rae Huang and reality TV star Spencer Pratt.
Beutner and Huang did not comment on the upcoming talks. But Pratt questioned whether Bass was using more town talk to bolster his campaign.
“It’s no surprise that Karen Bass is using her position as the current mayor to promote her re-election,” Pratt said in a statement, “but two city speeches seem excessive given that each event will consume taxpayer resources that could be better served elsewhere.”
Bass dismissed that idea, saying the extra talk had nothing to do with his campaign, which had already begun publicly.
“Every press conference – whatever I’m doing right now – could easily be linked to that, and it’s not true,” he said.
In recent weeks, Bass has remained under wraps as the city marked the one-year anniversary of the Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes and left 12 people dead. Although he attended other events to celebrate this day, it was not part of his social schedule.
As an incumbent, Bass will always have the opportunity to use his City Hall pulpit, said Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University.
“People will say that he is using his position, and speech, to get attention and recognition,” he said. “That’s his job, to be out there. He should be talking to the city.”
