Former LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Monday on Newsmax that Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom should resign due to “gross negligence” following the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles that resulted in 24 fatalities.

During an appearance on “The Record with Greta Van Susteren,” Villanueva said that the catastrophic loss was linked directly to policy decisions made under the current administration. The former sheriff said the crisis, in part, was due to inadequate staffing levels in local law enforcement.

“If you look at the hiring freezes during the summer of love of 2020, that has killed the staffing levels for both the sheriff’s department and LAPD. Between the two agencies, there are over 3,000 sworn officers in the hole. So when you have to pull bodies from your patrol stations to go to the fires, now you’re basically robbing Peter to pay Paul, and all of that stems from that ideology that we’re going to reimagine public safety,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva then commented on the impact of the wildfires on Newsom’s rumored presidential ambitions for 2028. The former sheriff said there’s a need for more practical and effective leadership.

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“We need people there in office to get the job done, not to push an ideology, be it from the left or the right. I don’t care. We need people to govern from the middle and actually make things happen. And that is what’s sorely needed here at the city level, at the county level, with the board of supervisors, and at the state level with the governor’s office,” Villanueva said.

When asked if he believes Bass and Newsom will resign, Villanueva didn’t hesitate.

“I think between both of them, yes, they should resign. I think you have, you have incompetence [that] leads to gross negligence, and now that you have the death of 25 people, it could actually go into the criminal arena in terms of gross negligence leading to manslaughter charges,” Villanueva said.

Wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles region have claimed the lives of at least 24 individuals, forced thousands from their homes, and obliterated more than 12,000 buildings, potentially marking these as the costliest fires in U.S. history. Bass was on a trip in Africa for the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama when the fires started.

Fire Chief Kristin Crowley previously said on CNN that city officials’ decisions impaired her department’s response to the massive wildfires, resulting in extensive damage. She also said that recent budget cuts, including a $17 million reduction, have significantly weakened the department’s firefighting capabilities.

“We need 62 more fire stations. These reports also show that we’ve had a 55% increase in overall call volume since 2010. And guess what? We’re doing it with less firefighters,” Crowley said. “I was also directed to develop a plan as part of a budget reduction exercise, and that could equate to $48.8 million. And I warned, I rang the bell, that these additional cuts could be very, very devastating for our ability to provide public safety.”

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