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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Rep. Karen Bass is scheduled to hold the kickoff event for her campaign for mayor of Los Angeles today at Los Angeles Trade Tech College with comedian Tiffany Haddish and Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard and Judy Chu.
``I hope this campaign turns into a movement that brings people together from all over the city to confront the crisis at hand and I think that this event is going to show a diverse coalition of leaders -- public officials at every level of government, business leaders, community leaders -- that are all ready to face this moment together,'' Bass said in a statement to City News Service.
``Right now Angelenos are scared, folks are angry -- and when that boils over, progress is at risk. We can't afford to have that happen. That's what tomorrow's event is all about.''
Haddish will speak about her experience growing up and living in Los Angeles before gaining success as a comedian and actress, which included being in foster care and experiencing homelessness.
Bass, D-Los Angeles, has said she will make addressing homelessness and issues in the foster care system key points in her campaign. Bass founded the Los Angeles-based National Foster Youth Institute in 2012 to advocate for hundreds of thousands of foster youth in the nation.
The event will also feature alumni from the South Central Youth Empowered Thru Action program, which is part of the Community Coalition nonprofit organization Bass founded in 1990. They will speak about Bass' role as a community organizer in South Los Angeles, an aide to Bass said.
Roybal-Allard, D-Los Angeles, the first woman to chair the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Chu, D-Monterey Park, who chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, will speak about their experience working with Bass, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
The three caucuses together make up the ``Tri-Caucus,'' which Bass advocated on behalf of during the COVID-19 pandemic during the Trump administration, in an effort to ensure that resources were given to communities of color across the nation.
Restaurateur Karim Webb and Sean Burton, the CEO of investment management and development firm Cityview, are also set to attend the event.
Bass on Friday announced that former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa endorsed her campaign, calling her a ``person of courage and conviction, someone who people like and respect.''
The 67-year-old Bass has been a member of the House since 2011. She represents the 37th Congressional District, which encompasses Los Angeles neighborhoods west and southwest of downtown including the Crenshaw district, Baldwin Hills, Miracle Mile, Pico-Robertson, Century City, Cheviot Hills, West Los Angeles, Mar Vista and parts of Westwood, as well as Culver City and Inglewood.
Bass would be Los Angeles' first female mayor and the second Black mayor, after Tom Bradley, who was mayor from 1973 to 1993.
She was a member of the Assembly from 2004-10, serving as its speaker from 2008-10.
The primary for the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election will take place on June 7, with the top two finishers squaring off in the general election on Nov. 8.
The field also includes City Attorney Mike Feuer and City Councilmen Joe Buscaino and Kevin de Leon.