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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRick Caruso's Potemkin Campaign. The mall developer has spent over $30 million to buy the mayor's se
Interesting article about Rick Caruso (candidate for L.A. Mayor - running neck n neck with Karen Bass)
But Rick Caruso, the developer known for building garish, Disney-fied malls like the Americana in Glendale and The Grove in the Fairfax district, has spent roughly three out of every four dollars in L.A.s mayoral campaign, nearly all of it from his own bank account, in advance of Tuesdays primary, in which 11 other candidates have also been running. This unusually large spending blitz, supplemented by endorsements from Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian, and Elon Musk, is intended to net Caruso the simple majority hed need to avoid a runoff in November.
Hes currently running neck and neck in the polls with Rep. Karen Bass, with most of the other top-flight candidates having already dropped out. So despite Carusos long history as a Republican in a Democratic city (he switched his registration from the GOP to decline to state in 2019 and became a Democrat only this January, a fact he obviously finds so potentially damaging that he sent a cease and desist letter to the Los Angeles Times to prevent them from publishing it), its not impossible that he will find enough support in a low-turnout primary to end the race outright.
...
Theres significantly less than meets the eye in his ambitious proposals, however. Caruso has vowed to make 30,000 shelter beds available in his first month in office, with no sense of where they would go or how wrenching it has been to secure even a fraction of that space for bridge housing in any corner of the city. He has called for affordable housing to be built, though not at any of his properties, which have hardly any affordable units.
https://prospect.org/politics/rick-carusos-potemkin-campaign/
Link to tweet
SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)But, a lot of people are being swayed by Caruso's promise to "end homelessness."
bahboo
(16,234 posts)even Snoop Dogg for chrissakes. Mindboggling. It will be he and Bass in November. Homelessness is a HUGE problem in LA right now...
Just A Box Of Rain
(5,104 posts)I'll be watching the returns tonight with some trepidation.
The lastest LA Times poll says neck and neck with neither getting an outright win, but Caruso has blanketed the airwaves with ads that (with my impartial political scientist hat on) I think have been very effective.
I'm hoping my "gut" is wrong. As long a there is a runoff I think Bass will have the opportunity to mount a counterattack. But Caruso has tried to go for a first-round knock out (by aiming to win the race with over 50% in the primary).
We will know soon.
As to his malls, I think it is fair to call them Disneyfied, but "garish" is an inapt adjective IMO.
tishaLA
(14,176 posts)because he's an absolute cypher whose "plan" to end homelessness is to declare a state of emergency, which cuts out city council, and "I alone can fix it."
If there were more money spent against him to talk about his donations to Moscow Mitch, serving on the board of the Reagan Library, etc., he could be defeated. My primary hope is that he doesn't hit 50% so Bass can live to fight another day.
Just A Box Of Rain
(5,104 posts)that would cut out the City Council? That's something I never heard myself.
tishaLA
(14,176 posts)"Declaring a State of Emergency will give us the ability to expedite sheltering decisions by creating a single point of accountability in the Mayor and getting City Council politics out of the way. We cant solve this problem with 15 career politicians catering to the loudest special interests we need a single point of accountability who answers only to the voters."
https://carusocan.com/issues/homelessness/
Just A Box Of Rain
(5,104 posts)I do not recall ever once hearing that Caruso proposes to declare an emergency as a way to grab power away from the City Council being discussed during the campaign.
Never. And I live in LA and (like most on DU) follow politics closely.
This is truly horrifying. I very much appreciate you bring this to my awareness.
jalan48
(13,797 posts)JI7
(89,172 posts)homeless . Support for him is a result of the situation in Los Angeles .
Many minorities are supporting him also . I voted for Karen Bass but I also know how things are here and what people are voting on.
Chainfire
(17,304 posts)Who wants to have a bunch of average Joes calling the shots.......