Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Rick Caruso
Rick J. Caruso ran for election for Mayor of Los Angeles in California. Caruso lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Biography
Caruso received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California (USC) and a law degree from Pepperdine University. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Caruso, a retail complex development company.[1] Caruso founded a student loan forgiveness fund for low-income students, and served on Los Angeles’ Department of Water and Power Commission, Police Commission, and on the USC Board of Trustees.[2]
Elections
2022
See also: Mayoral election in Los Angeles, California (2022)
General election
General election for Mayor of Los Angeles
Karen Bass defeated Rick J. Caruso in the general election for Mayor of Los Angeles on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Karen Bass (Nonpartisan) | 54.8 | 509,944 | |
| Rick J. Caruso (Nonpartisan) | 45.2 | 420,030 | ||
| Total votes: 929,974 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Los Angeles
The following candidates ran in the primary for Mayor of Los Angeles on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Karen Bass (Nonpartisan) | 43.1 | 278,511 | |
| ✔ | Rick J. Caruso (Nonpartisan) | 36.0 | 232,490 | |
| Kevin de León (Nonpartisan) | 7.8 | 50,372 | ||
| Gina Viola (Nonpartisan) | 6.9 | 44,341 | ||
| Mike Feuer (Nonpartisan) (Unofficially withdrew) | 1.9 | 12,087 | ||
| Andrew Kim (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 9,405 | ||
| Alex Gruenenfelder (Nonpartisan) | 1.0 | 6,153 | ||
| Joe Buscaino (Nonpartisan) (Unofficially withdrew) | 0.7 | 4,485 | ||
| Craig E. Greiwe (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 2,439 | ||
| Mel Wilson (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 2,336 | ||
| Ramit Varma (Nonpartisan) | 0.3 | 1,916 | ||
| John Jackson (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 1,511 | ||
| Total votes: 646,046 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Rick J. Caruso did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Caruso's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
END STREET HOMELESSNESS Read Rick Caruso’s detailed plan to house the homeless in LA and get people the care they need to get back on their feet. Let’s get real about where we are at: the present system, and the politicians who built it to suit their interest, is not working. It has to be pulled from its roots. Over 5 years ago, Los Angeles voters were asked to raise taxes on themselves to give politicians and bureaucrats the resources to tackle homelessness. Voters acted. Citizens did their part. What did they get in return from the politicians and bureaucrats? Failure. Only a handful of beds have been built. And the crisis has since exploded. The way this problem gets worse is to put once again our faith in the politicians and system that has utterly failed us. Today we are facing a crisis in our city that has broken every record, and continues to worsen. We need a real plan, and real action. Now. DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY Let’s finally call the homelessness crisis what it is, an emergency of epic proportions that deserves a true FEMA-level response that comes with federal, state, and local coordination and funds to quickly house those who are living on our streets. No more wasting precious time allowing thousands to suffer while politicians and bureaucrats fight over failed policies that have produced just a handful of shelter beds. We must demand help from federal and state governments immediately, and we must demand assistance in getting people off the streets and into housing and addiction treatment centers today. The last homeless count for the City of LA placed the unhoused population at roughly 42,000 souls. That is the size of 92% of incorporated cities, towns and villages in the US. Imagine the population of an entire town being homeless and the Mayor and City Council NOT declaring an emergency. It’s unfathomable, and unacceptable. But here in Los Angeles it is everyday life. 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 can’t 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. Rick Caruso has the fortitude to tackle these problems head on and focus on them until the job is done. He won’t fixate on what office to run for next. Rick Caruso will Clean Up LA. ON DAY ONE, RICK WILL:
CUT WASTE AND DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY ONCE AND FOR ALL In 2016, politicians persuaded Angelenos to tax themselves to help create more housing for the homeless. All told, Proposition HHH created upwards of $1.2 billion for housing projects. What did the politicians and bureaucrats get done in the past 6 years with all that money after promising over 10,000 new units of housing? 18 projects for a total of 1,142 rooms. On top of that, the average cost per room is an outrageously wasteful $700,000. We need to stop the waste and demand accountability and real results. ON DAY ONE, RICK WILL:
SOLVE THE SHORTAGE OF EMERGENCY SHELTER BEDS With over 44,000 people on the streets, we need shelter beds and we need them now. With a Homeless Emergency declared, we can immediately begin to deploy shelters and housing options in places that make logical sense and cut through the red tape that has hampered the response thus far. Rick won’t wait for some bureaucrat to tell him why he can or can’t get people off the streets. With an Emergency Declaration the Mayor will have that decision making power, not the City Council. ON DAY ONE, RICK WILL:
ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION HEAD-ON In 2019 the LA Times found that more than 76% of the homeless population had substance abuse or mental illness issues. This was contrary to the 29% reported by LAHSA, the Homeless Services bureaucracy. The good news is we don’t need a report or newspaper article to tell us what we already know: drugs and mental health issues are ravaging our homeless population and every police officer in skid row will tell you, the dealers and criminals are preying on the homeless as a disposable source of customers. We must intensify efforts to crack down on illicit drug manufacturing and dealing that makes our mental health crisis worse. WE MUST END THE CYCLE. HEALTH and BEHAVIORAL HEALTH care needs, and experiences of abuse and trauma, are major factors in loss of housing among unsheltered people, most especially for unsheltered women. Unsheltered people were …. … More than 4x as likely to report that physical health conditions had contributed to loss of housing as sheltered people (46% vs. 11%) … Nearly 3x as likely to report mental health conditions had contributed to loss of housing (50% to 17%), … and more than 8x as likely to report that use of drugs or alcohol had contributed to loss of housing (51% vs. 6%) To make matters worse, the City of Los Angeles has NO health department or mental health service streams. We must rely on the County, where resources must be shared with 87 other cities. As the largest population of LA County — and also the largest contributor to property tax rolls — it’s time we created our OWN MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION TREATMENT DEPARTMENT to fund and implement critical services that our residents need. A LA Times survey from a few years ago found much more mental health suffering and substance abuse among the unsheltered. …“67% had either a mental illness or a substance abuse disorder. Individually, substance abuse affects 46% of those living on the streets — more than three times the rate previously reported — and mental illness, including post-traumatic stress disorder, affects 51% of those living on the streets, according to the analysis.” Note, this was a few years ago, pre-pandemic.
AS MAYOR, RICK WILL WORK WITH THE STATE AND COUNTY TO ENSURE WE CAN:
REMOVE TENT ENCAMPMENTS PERMANENTLY & ENFORCE QUALITY OF LIFE LAWS For far too long encampments have grown because of a lack of a clear and concise effort by the Mayor and City Council to build the shelter and service network. As a result, neighborhoods have been overrun with RVs, tent encampments that look like disaster zones, and human waste is now something we must all watch for as we try to enjoy our parks and beaches. Restrictions on sleeping in public areas are in place for the safety of everyone involved. Existing laws are not being enforced, and ensuring those quality of life rules are abided by is step number one. WITHIN 1 YEAR OF BEING MAYOR, RICK WILL:
PURSUE CREATIVE SOLUTIONS THAT WORK, NOT COSTLY ONES THAT DON’T This crisis took decades of neglect and constant inattention to create and no matter how hard we push, the current set of tools we have just aren’t enough to quickly undo decades of mismanagement. That’s why Rick will demand creativity and efficiency in addressing this crisis and Rick will not tolerate the status quo or answers that say “because that is how we do it” from bureaucrats and politicians. As a builder, Rick knows firsthand what it takes to be creative, compassionate, and relentlessly focused on results and he will utilize those skills and experiences to think outside the box and get the job done. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL:
PREVENT PEOPLE FROM BECOMING HOMELESS No matter how much we focus on those on the street, we will never truly address the problem of homelessness unless we also focus on preventing those on the fringes from falling into homelessness as well. There must be more options for those who are one or two missed paychecks away from losing their homes. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL:
SOLVE LA’S LONG-TERM AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS Economic hardship is the #1 cause cited for newly homeless, and the housing affordability crisis in LA and across the state continues to worsen. Housing costs in Los Angeles are sky high and growing exponentially. The cost-per-door is outpacing the cost of single-family homes or most market-rate housing. Homelessness starts rising when median rents in a region exceed 22% of median income and rises more sharply at 32%; in LA, the median rent is 46.7% (half of median income). The reason for this is simple: building in Los Angeles isn’t just expensive, it’s designed to incentivize building high-cost luxury housing over affordable housing. Los Angeles has one of the longest entitlement processes in the country, with most projects taking upwards of 24 months. This timeline creates massive holding costs for builders and, when combined with fees, labor laws, and environmental review challenges, typical projects get delayed for years. This creates a perverse system where the only housing worth building is the most expensive kind, which in turn drives up rents across the board. The solution is obvious: we must build more housing, of all types, in all neighborhoods, in a smart and community-appropriate way. Rick won’t tolerate creating more density in places that can’t support it, but he will advocate for more density and height in corridors where it is appropriate. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL:
APPROACH THE PROBLEM FROM A REGIONAL LENS We know homelessness is not just a City of Los Angeles problem, but one that impacts all cities in the Southland. That is why we must work with other cities and jurisdictions to share the costs, burdens, and solutions equally. There is no reason why cities large and small can’t band together to create joint assistance programs that ignore invisible city limits and stop incentivizing the dumping of homeless people across city lines like trash that no one notices. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL IMMEDIATELY:
CANCEL COSTLY AND HANDICAPPING LEGAL SETTLEMENTS THAT ONLY MAKE THE PROBLEM WORSE Los Angeles has been a magnet for lawyers looking to make a quick buck with costly lawsuits that our grossly incompetent City Attorney quickly settles rather than fight. Year after year, whether it’s the Lavan decision or the Mitchell Settlement, time and time again, the City chooses to settle frivolous lawsuits brought on by high powered litigation lawyers motivated by legal fees rather than the wellbeing of the homeless. These lawsuits have cost millions of dollars and completely tied the city’s hands behind its back in terms of how it can address this crisis. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL:
PUBLIC SAFETY Read Rick Caruso’s detailed plan to cut crime, make our communities safer from gun violence, and force real reform in LA. As President of the Police Commission, Rick cut crime, fought corruption and stood up to political pressure to force real reform. He came to the presidency at a time of great turmoil for the LAPD with the Department operating under a federal consent decree. Caruso restored public trust in the LAPD, especially among Black, Asian and Latino Angelenos. Rick oversaw a 30 percent reduction in crime, fought for community policing and police accountability and stood up to political pressure when he hired Chief William Bratton, who is remembered as the most transformational figure in the history of policing in the City of Los Angeles. DON’T DEFUND THE POLICE, INVEST IN MAKING THEM BETTER There is no doubt that our police force can do better, but the attacks on rank-and-file officers must stop. The men and women of the LAPD risk their lives on a daily basis. Rhetoric about “defunding the police” makes no sense when you consider that murders are skyrocketing and LA is the most under-policed big city in America. Yes, we need to invest in more training, both to reduce unnecessary use of force incidents and to eliminate any elements of unconscious bias. But when an emergency strikes, we all want our first responders to arrive quickly and to save lives, and we need to show our support for them with respect and gratitude, along with a constant and firm demand for excellence, fair treatment, and world class professionalism. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL:
ADDRESS THE CRISIS OF GUN VIOLENCE Gun violence is out of control in Los Angeles. The city recorded 397 murders in 2021, the highest total in almost 15 years — and a 53% increase from 2019 levels. In one year, homicides, car theft, and robberies at gunpoint are all up by double digits. More than half (54%) of the city’s shootings were related to gang violence, and homicides of the homeless increased 22%. “Robberies with a firearm increased 21% citywide last year, with LAPD’s central bureau logging the largest increase of 37%.” It’s no surprise that with the additional 1.17 million firearms registered in California during the pandemic that many of those guns are falling into the wrong hands or being used by people who have no training or respect for the weapons they purchased. We must address this systemic issue. And we need to go further than addressing the ‘supply’ side of gun violence; we need to address the ‘demand-side’, too – and do more to focus on repeat offenders and high-crime areas. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL:
CRACK DOWN ON PROPERTY CRIME – CREATE CONSEQUENCES NOT EXCUSES The endless headlines around “smash and grab” robberies around the holidays only highlighted the lack of any real consequences for those who deliberately flout our laws. We all see, feel, and know firsthand that property crime is not being adequately enforced. We’ve all seen our neighbors’ homes burglarized or have had our cars broken into, or worse yet, stolen. We need to make sure there are consequences and fair repercussions for those who break the law. Just a snapshot of how bad it’s gotten, specifically, when it comes to car theft: “the last quarter of 2021 brought more stolen car reports than any time in the past 12 years”. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL ADVOCATE FOR AND IMPLEMENT:
ADDRESS LINK BETWEEN MENTAL HEALTH AND CRIME The data doesn’t lie: we know that those suffering from mental health and addiction are more likely to commit crimes and are more likely to be victims of crimes. The homelessness crisis is one reason why we’ve failed to take on this connected problem; but we can do more to build a system that recognizes and does better to address the clear link between crime and our broken mental health system. According to publicly available LAPD crime data, there is a trend of rising crime involving the mentally ill in the City of Los Angeles. Crimes involving the mentally ill have increased 338% from 2010 to 2018. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL:
EXPAND PREVENTION PROGRAMS THAT WORK Evidence shows that violence prevention programs work. To maximize success, we need to equip communities with evidence-based, comprehensive, trauma-informed approaches that address the multiple factors that impact violence. Perhaps most importantly, any effective program has to help those most affected by violence – children, youth, and families. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL:
CORRUPTION & ETHICS Read Rick Caruso's detailed plan and pledge to run the cleanest and most transparent mayoral administration in the history of Los Angeles. THE CLEANEST, MOST TRANSPARENT MAYORAL ADMINISTRATION IN HISTORY Why are homelessness and crime out of control in Los Angeles? The last three years have seen more councilmembers, staff, bureaucrats, and high-level commissioners arrested and indicted than anyone can remember. Three different councilmembers have been arrested, one is currently serving house arrest, and two are awaiting trial. We’ve heard salacious tales of wiretaps, cash hand offs in casino bathrooms, sex workers, and even bizarre plots involving councilmembers trying get phony degrees for their family members. City Hall has turned into an ethical swamp, where lawmakers behave as if laws don’t apply to them and corruption runs so rampant, even the most brazen and unbelievable acts have become commonplace and unsurprising. Career politicians have failed us. We need real leadership, and we need to restore faith and trust in our government. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL:
ROOT OUT CORRUPTION IN CONTRACTING AND DEVELOPMENT We’ve seen the headlines over and over again. Councilmember arrested for bribery while approving lucrative development contract. DWP Commissioner arrested for bribery for approving a high dollar City contract. The corruption at City Hall truly has become commonplace and expected. It’s no wonder nothing gets done and our problems continue to worsen, self-enrichment seems to be the only motivating factor there. Here in Los Angeles, we have to start by recognizing that pay-to-play politics is at its worst when it comes to land use and development corruption. That’s why we need tougher laws around transparency, reporting, and ultimately removing the tools that allow these corrupt actors to leverage people for bribes or self-gain. AS MAYOR, RICK WILL:
|
” |
| —Rick Caruso's campaign website (2022)[4] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Rick J. Caruso," accessed May 17, 2022
- ↑ Rick Caruso's campaign website, "Meet Rick Caruso," accessed May 17, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Rick Caruso's campaign website, “Issues,” accessed May 17, 2022
| |||||||||
