Rick Caruso: Los Angeles' Next Mayor?

Developer Rick Caruso, a billionaire who said he asked his 11-year-old daughter for advice on his speech, stood before a crowded room at the Millennium Biltmore hotel today to talk about leadership and outline the obvious problems of Los Angeles, all while taking not-so-subtle swipes at Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles City Council.

During his 20 minute-speech to Town Hall Los Angeles, Caruso repeatedly said what the mayor of Los Angeles should do, must do and needs to do.

It was the campaign kickoff with no campaign. Right now, Caruso is still in the courtship phase, a time when he can make declarations and openly criticize the current leadership structure without taking the official plunge into political life.

"I haven't made a final decision yet," Caruso told reporters right before his speech. "It's two years away and I have time. I'm clearly interested but I have time to make a final decision."

Though he is doing some work behind the scenes, Caruso said there is not timeline for announcing his candidacy.

Caruso is best-known to most Angelenos as the man behind the Grove and Americana at Brand. His resume also includes stints as the president of the Police Commission, a member of the Coliseum Commission, and the youngest member ever to serve on the Board of Water and Power Commissioners.

So, why run for mayor?

"I love public service. I think it's an honorable job, and I think more people should do it," Caruso said. "I'm frustrated. I've raised my family here. I have my business here. I really do love this city and I'm frustrated that it's like we're running in the mud. We're making a little bit of progress but not enough."

Overall, the speech was light on specifics -- eliminate the gross receipts tax, embrace zero-balanced budgeting. Caruso's vision for Los Angeles includes safe streets, good schools and an environment that encourages businesses to grow.

The meatiest parts of the speech were the barbs he threw all over the place. Here's a roundup:

• Los Angeles leaders are only focused on "the next election, the next fundraiser, the next ribbon-cutting or, in many cases, tickets to the next sporting event."
• Farmers Field: "To have all this discussion, frankly, by a bunch of people on the City Council that I think have a tough time spelling the word 'football' ... "
• Jobs czar: "You really shouldn't have to resort to gimmicks in order to attract businesses to the city."
• The city's "job creation efforts have been an absolute failure."
• Regarding the gross receipts tax: "Skimming off the top is what the mob used to do in Vegas."
• LAX: "You could be landing in any third world country you want to pick on the face of the earth."
• "The L.A. Unified School District is an educational gulag."
• "Don't get me wrong, there's some good people in City Hall, doing some really good things. Unfortunately, they're the exception rather than the rule."
• "The people today who are running the city have never had to sign the front of a paycheck. They have lived their lives signing the back of one."
• "I do believe that often there is a lack of personal accountability in government that would never survive in the private sector."

Comments

[OrangeCountyCat]

06:41 PM on 05/14/2011

That's really profound coming from a shopping center developer.

[Scott Zwartz]

03:14 PM on 05/14/2011

Why don't we just renamed L.A. "Cosa Nostra West" and admit that the City is one huge corrupt racketeering enterprise to steal tax dollars and give them to developers. It's been that way for decades.

[runfastandwin]

04:41 PM on 05/13/2011

Although if he campaigned on putting a functional left turn signal in at every intersection I'd vote for him...

[runfastandwin]

04:40 PM on 05/13/2011

Jesus save us from another do nothing multi gazillionaire who think just because they made some money they can run a government. We haven't recovered from the Riordan debacle yet. and I don't need to mention the Schwarzenegger legacy but I will...

[Miketou]

01:45 PM on 05/13/2011

Just what we need--another rich out of touch politician who has nothing in common with the man on the street. Run--don't walk to the next exit.

[Scott Zwartz]

03:15 PM on 05/14/2011

He has a lot to do with the man on the street -- Being a businessman, he mugs us by stealing all our tax dollars rather than take a chance soiling his shark skin suit by using a blackjack.

[JScott]

11:35 AM on 05/13/2011

L. A. 's version of Donald Trump.

[Rita Foster]

11:21 AM on 05/13/2011

Hmmm interesting. Great timing actually. He could win and in 4 years run for President. Not that far fetched, Bush opened the door for a black man, I was telling someone the other day that it will be a long time before we see another anglo-american in the White House; a hispanic will win after Obama wins his second term. Caruso just might be a great follow-up to Obama. Wow, what a thought. The U.S. truly embracing diversity. Sounds cool to me.

[Ferrante Photo]

03:48 AM on 05/14/2011

He is not Hispanic. He's Italian. White. He got rich be leasing land he bought to his father the founder of Dollar Rent a Car. He wears 5,000 + suits and donated to George Bush and John McCain. He sounds like Donald Trump to me. The U S is as racist as it was 30 years ago.

[Scott Zwartz]

03:16 PM on 05/14/2011

He's American.

[Rita Foster]

10:03 AM on 05/16/2011

Italian! That's even better...

[jimmygeewhiz]

10:37 AM on 05/13/2011

Another slickster interested in power rather that governance and meaningful reform. You grab your riches than you take control of a large city and live the high life of controlling people and molding them into sheeple.

[robodawa]

09:50 AM on 05/13/2011

Add a moustache to him and he looks quite a lot like Franco. The world has had one Franco.
That's enough.

[Turnaround]

06:01 AM on 05/13/2011

Cali doesn't elect billionaires to public office. (See Meg Whitman).

You wanna do some public service? Help the city? Donate 90% of your billions to help feed the poor and educate our children. Start there and maybe you'll earn my respect, rather than my contempt.

[lotus321]

10:12 AM on 05/13/2011

Wow, do you really hate successful people that much.  Why such contempt?

[jimmygeewhiz]

10:39 AM on 05/13/2011

I don't see hate in that statement. I see someone who's tired of being duped by billionaires with only power on their mind.

[Turnaround]

11:27 AM on 05/13/2011

He is utterly transparent. He wants to help the city? He already has billions of dollars -- the means to help the city far more than any mayor could.

What he really wants is more power, more ego strokes.

If you can't see that, you're none too bright.

If you aren't disgusted by that--he has billions while children go hungry and people are homeless--you just aren't much of human being.

How long have you worked for him?

[antaeus]

01:54 AM on 05/13/2011

"The Grove" is a blight.

[CTDFalconer]

10:46 AM on 05/13/2011

That it is. The "Americana" is the same. They are both hollow, aesthetic wastelands, as contrived and fake as any Disney attraction. They're nothing more than extravagant temples to Mammon. They do nothing to add to the cultural life of the city.

If those represent Caruso's vision of LA, he should be fought and resisted at all costs.

[martan]

01:48 AM on 05/13/2011

Seriously? Really? A rich guy gets richer with political connections and he is going to be a good mayor? A string of cliches qualifies him for the mayoralty? I guess Donald Trump would be a good president too.

[savvysearch]

11:52 PM on 05/12/2011

Anyone who though LA needs more sprawling mega-mall, faux-entertainment centers like The Grove, and is completely oblivious to the criticisms of these types of places and the ill-effects it has on the urban structure of LA is not good for city.

I'll pass on this candidate.

[Scott Zwartz]

03:34 PM on 05/14/2011

The sad things is that only people of his ilk run for mayor, and no matter how many hundreds of millions are stolen, no matter how many fire men are laid off, fire stations and libraries closed, parks not build, streets not repairs, etc. Angelenos still vote for the same crooked thieves over and over and over.

[trekbette]

10:38 PM on 05/12/2011

I have never heard of this man, so I don't know his politics. However, unlike our last billionaire candidate, he seems to have actually spent time in local politics. This it a big improvement.

That being said I will reserve my vote until I know more.

[Scott Zwartz]

03:35 PM on 05/14/2011

How can you admit you know nothing and then declare that he is a big improvement?

[Keely Shea]

09:50 PM on 05/12/2011

This guy sounds smart, articulate and has proved himself to be a great business man. He is exactly what LA needs right now. The government there is run by a bunch of corrupt hispanic Americans who do exactly what he says they do. They've spent their whole lives signing the back of a paycheck. Very large paychecks......

[skraeling]

01:28 AM on 05/13/2011

Caruso is not what LA needs now, or ever. What we need is reform of out city government, creating a responsible mayor and a larger "legislative" body to represent ALL the neighborhoods.
What we have now is a system designed to be corrupt with no one in charge, no one truly accountable and certainly no one responsible for much. Caruso might be ok then,but right now, he and his moneyed pals are half of the problem the other half are our ineffective city council and the photo op mayor....sad to say, our present system works just as it was designed to do..

[CTDFalconer]

10:49 AM on 05/13/2011

Fanned just for your user name...and being against Caruso.

[Keely Shea]

11:25 AM on 05/13/2011

Ok, I see your point. Thanks for clarifying. Maybe he's not the best candidate but something needs to be done before L.A. turns into Detroit, and trust me you don't want that. I'm shocked to see California as having the lowest expenditures per pupil in the U.S. And I thought DPS were the worst of the worst.

[Turnaround]

06:03 AM on 05/13/2011

Extremely wealthy businessmen make terrible politicians. (See George Bush for reference.)

They are the boss of numerous people. It's not a mindset that can adjust easily to being a public servant.