LOS ANGELES — 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.

What You Need To Know

  • 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

  • Both state and city law require government officials to save official communications, but city lawyer David Michaelson said the laws do not apply to text messages

  • 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 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.

Both state and city law require government officials to save official communications, but city lawyer David Michaelson said the laws do not apply to text messages.

“The Mayor’s phone is set not to save text messages — it auto deletes,” Michaelson said in a statement provided to City News Service on Saturday.

“The CPRA (California Public Records Act) is not a record retaining statute. There is no requirement that a city official or employee save text messages,” he continued. “The two year retention period in LA Administration Code Section 12.3(b)(6) does not apply to texts. As articulated in an Attorney General opinion (64 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 317), a record that must be retained is made for the purpose of providing future reference. 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. Therefore, texts are not required to be retained for two years under the city code.”

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.