Responding to a natural disaster is a pass-or-fail test for a politician. Either you're ready for them and can answer the call of your constituents, or everyone suffers under your lack of answers. Right now, California's leaders are failing in the worst ways since the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. It's a total failure, too. California's leaders failed in instituting helpful policies and responding to an ongoing crisis.

Petition drives demanding Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass are picking up steam. It's easy to see why. Her frosty relationship with the fire chief has exploded out in the open. Bass is trying to put on a united front with the chief while batting down speculation about firing the chief and being at odds with California governor Gavin Newsom.

Former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory told Mark Halperin's 2Way show that he was struck by how disconnected California's officials are in this. He noted they aren't meeting together and aren't acting as a team. When he pointed that out, it was painfully obvious. It's as if everyone in California is freelancing a response to an active and ongoing emergency wildfire.

The clashes in public are connected to disagreements behind the scenes. As the wildfire peaked, a memo from the L.A. Fire Chief became public. She'd written to the city and said recent budget cuts impacted the Fire Department's capacity to fight wildfires.

Another memo was sent in November 2024, and the Fire Chief told the city that she needed more firefighters to combat growing issues. Bizarrely, the Washington Free Beacon found, "Mayor Karen Bass's administration pulled Crowley's memo from its website."

Beyond the city, Gavin Newsom's administration has questions to answer, too. The Palisades reservoir, the primary water reservoir where the fire started, was completely empty and not in operation. It had been in this state for months. Newsom claimed he would investigate why the reservoir was empty and the fire hydrants didn't work.

Newsom is investigating why various parts of the state he's running aren't working. There's a deep and sad irony to that. The satire site The Babylon Bee gets it right with the headline, "Newsom Reassures Fire Victims He'll Be Prepared Next Time, Now That He Knows Water Is Useful In Fighting Fires."

Stepping back even further, though, it's clear that progressive regulations are strangling the state, too. Everyone from Donald Trump to your average person on the street has blasted California for not doing more to contain fires through better forest management. Even if anyone tried to engage in proactive fire management, regulations ensure that would never happen.

Writing in City Journal, Shawn Regan found that it takes years to approve a land management plan:

On average, it takes 3.6 years to begin a mechanical thinning project and 4.7 years to implement a prescribed burn after the U.S. Forest Service initiates the environmental review process. For large projects requiring environmental impact statements, the timeline stretches even longer, averaging 5.3 years for mechanical treatments and 7.2 years for prescribed burns.

And that's if everything goes according to plan. The timeline stretches out even further if anyone sues to stop those plans on environmental grounds. Regan notes, "A forest-restoration project near Bozeman, Montana, designed to protect the city's water supply, was delayed for 16 years before work finally began a few years ago."

These policies are not designed to help humans, cities, or the environment. They're a bureaucratic mess meant to enrich the groups fighting everything.

Claire Lehmann, an Australian who witnessed that country's "black summer" of wildfires several years ago, wrote of U.S. Democrats:

The Democrats' position presents a striking irony. California's progressive leadership has positioned itself at the forefront of climate change policy, championing emissions reductions and denouncing climate skepticism. Yet when faced with the practical requirements of climate change preparedness, whether conducting controlled burns, maintaining water infrastructure, or restricting development in fire-prone areas—they have proven to be inept. They appear more comfortable with grand pronouncements about global challenges than with the unglamorous work of preparing their own communities for climate realities they themselves warn about.

The response from Democrats can't simply be to throw their hands in the air, say "climate change," and walk off. Responding to natural disasters through police, firemen, and other fire responders and then rebuilding a community is at the core of what state and local governments are designed to do.

Natural disasters are pass or fail tests. These wildfires won't be the last ones in the state of California, and there will be other things, too, like mudslides, avalanches, earthquakes, and more. Some of those things have happened in the last week.

California's leadership was unprepared to respond to a natural disaster, and the citizens of that state are suffering as a result. Democrats can respond to natural disasters, too. A quick glance at the other 49 states in this country will find solid Democrats who can respond. None of those Democrats are in charge of the largest state in the nation.

Instead of working to respond better, Newsom, Bass, and the rest are devolving into infighting, leaks, and sniping each other in press conferences. California's leaders are failing and show no signs of rebounding. It's time for change in California.