Questioner presses mayor; mayor says grief can look like anger

A questioner criticized the mayor for apologizing for being out of the country while fires affected the city, asking why the mayor apologized "as if somehow you control the weather." The questioner framed the apology as implying a responsibility the office cannot exercise.

The mayor replied by describing grief and the emotional response to crises. "1 of the stages of grief, and I know grief very well, is anger," the mayor said, arguing that people direct anger at visible leaders. He added that, even if his presence would not have altered emergency operations, he felt obliged to apologize because of the symbolic expectations of the office.

The exchange highlighted a tension between procedural questions of operational responsibility and symbolic expectations of leaders during tragedies. No votes or motions followed the exchange.