It’s notoriously hard to govern Los Angeles, a city that gives its mayor less direct authority over the government than in a city like New York or Chicago. But even so, it’d be hard to do much worse than Karen Bass.

Elected mayor of LA in 2022, Bass campaigned on promises to solve the city’s homelessness and housing affordability crises (which are really part of the same underlying crisis ). She then spent her term undermining her own administration’s affordable housing policy and fighting the state of California’s efforts to compel cities to allow more housing production. She lost her bid for reelection this week to Nithya Raman, an LA City Council member, rising progressive star, and nationally prominent YIMBY.

Los Angeles has the highest ratio of home price to household income of any large city in America, and the second fewest homes per adult of any major city.…