Photo courtesy of Patrick Record for Rick Caruso for Mayor
By LILY TINOCO | Reporter
The Palisadian-Post reached out to candidates running for Los Angeles mayor to answer questions pertaining to homelessness, housing affordability, crime and what inspired their mayoral run.
Developer Rick Caruso—known for the Grove, Americana at Brand and Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades—shared his responses with the Post ahead of the June 7 primary election.
Post: Can you provide concrete steps and a timeline for how you plan to tackle homelessness?
Caruso: On day one, I will declare a State of Emergency, and immediately marshal state and federal resources and support to get people the housing and services they need to get back on their feet. From there, we will immediately begin the process to build 30,000 beds within my first 300 days in office to ensure that anyone who needs a bed is offered a bed and services. We will also create a City Department of Mental Health services to finally bring the mental health and addiction services that are so desperately needed.
In addition to these services and support systems, we will no longer tolerate street encampments and will hire 500 sanitation workers to clean up LA and restore the luster and shine to our neighborhoods.
Lastly, we will work hard to ensure the cycle of homelessness is also stopped by building affordable housing in places that make sense, like surplus city properties, and also create incentives to build more affordable housing along transit corridors and dense urban areas that are not zoned residential.
Post: Do you know of the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness? If not, it is a model task force and has paved the way for West LA and the way it addresses homelessness. Would you consider working with them to address the homeless issues plaguing the city?
Caruso: I have great respect for PPTFH’s collaborative approach to addressing the issues of street homelessness. This is a crisis we need to solve together as a community. Policies work best when informed through best practices and involve our entire community.
I believe we have a solid plan in place to end street homelessness and we’ll execute that through a multidisciplinary approach which I’ve listed above. Street homelessness is our generation’s biggest humanitarian crisis and the irony that it’s realized in the streets of one the world’s richest cities—Los Angeles—is not lost on me. It is a failure of our leaders and we no longer have the luxury to wait or experiment with solutions.
Post: What are the top 5 things you hope to address within your first year as mayor, if elected?
Caruso:
- Build 30,000 shelter beds in the right places.
2. Rebuild the LAPD.
3. Restore faith and trust in local government by rooting out corruption.
4. Ensure those most vulnerable receive the aid they need so they don’t fall into homelessness because of economic hardship.
5. Create a department of Mental Health Services for the city of LA.
Post: Can you help improve housing affordability? Do you want to?
Caruso: Housing affordability affects us all. We will leverage the city’s borrowing power, acquire new land for housing, waive fees for affordable housing projects, and ensure we build affordable housing in communities where density and building along transportation corridors makes sense, not single-family residential areas.
Post: Do you plan to take action on climate change and sustainability?
Caruso: I support the city’s LA100 clean energy plan along with the city’s plans for ground water recharge and recycling, and will work to ensure the city not only stays on track with LA100, but can achieve those goals even earlier.
I am proud of the fact that the Palisades Village is the first LEED Gold certified shopping district in the nation, and that all Caruso properties are utilizing the highest and most cutting-edge technology available for sustainability and efficiency. I will apply those same principles to the city of LA’s approach to climate change and sustainability.
Post: What is your vision for LAPD? Do you wish to make any changes in that department?
Caruso: I don’t believe in defunding the police, I think we invest in them and make them better. My plan is to increase the force by 1,500 and [return] to community-based policing. I also plan on hiring mental health support that’s geared toward managing and de-escalating mental health crises so we have the appropriate response in cases and free up officers time to crack down on crime, since police officers aren’t equipped or trained to respond to individuals suffering from mental health issues.
Post: What is your plan to combat crime in the city?
Caruso: I think my vision for LAPD best answers this question since we are one of the most under-staffed police departments in the country on a per-capita basis. With more police officers on the ground, we can respond to crime faster and more efficiently protect the general public, which will in turn reduce the occurrence of crime since there will be a direct and forceful response when crime is committed.
Post: What inspired you to run for mayor?
Caruso: I love this city and country; it’s given me every opportunity to build a successful business and raise a family I love more than anything in the world. My businesses and philanthropies have one thing in common and that is to build community. Whether it’s a town center that is a haven for anyone and everyone in Los Angeles, to our family’s commitment to underserved communities by providing access to quality education—we have always given back to Los Angeles.
I adhere to a credo of being in service to my community, which is what I’ve done throughout my private and public life, and this time is no different. I am tired of seeing the same problems we have getting worse every year, even after the same politicians and elected officials promise they will fix the problems. I know what it takes to get these problems fixed and I intend to get it done.
Post: What would you say is the biggest problem the city is facing right now? Why?
Caruso: Lack of leadership. All of our problems can be traced to our elected leaders failing to lead and do what’s right for the city and not what’s right for their careers.
Post: Lastly, what do you love about LA?
Caruso: I love our beaches. As I have said before, LA has some of the best beaches you could ask for.
Responses have been published in full, adjusted only to fit the formatting and style of the paper. Responses to requests sent to mayoral candidates Karen Bass and Kevin de León were not received as the Post went to print Tuesday.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
