Ankler Hot Seat: Rick Caruso
Ankler Hot Seat: Rick Caruso
A full transcript of the conversation between host Peter Kiefer and the Los Angeles mayoral candidate
This transcript of The Ankler Hot Seat podcast has been lightly edited for clarity.
For a full transcript of The Ankler Hot Seat’s July 14 interview with U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, who is running against Rick Caruso in the Los Angeles mayoral race, click here.
Peter Kiefer:
Okay, great. Rick Caruso, thank you so much for joining the Ankler podcast.
Rick Caruso:
Well, Peter, thanks for the invitation. I love being here.
Peter Kiefer:
I'm so happy to have you. I want to start by talking about running as a political outsider. And I think in this political climate, there are some very clear advantages that you've taken advantage of, someone like yourself who's, obviously, been very active in civic life in Los Angeles for decades, but who can claim to not be a lifelong politician. One of the challenges, however, is that voters don't know exactly who to compare you to. So I'm wondering, to start the interview off with, if you could give us an example of a city and a current mayor that you admire, to the point where you would even potentially strive to emulate them.
Rick Caruso:
Peter, that's a good question. I am an outsider. I've obviously been involved with city government for a long, long time, being on a number of commissions here in Los Angeles and serving three different mayors. I don't know of a current mayor that I can compare myself to. I can tell you that the mayor that had the most impact on my career was the mayor that first appointed me to a commission when I was 26 years old, which is Tom Bradley. And I served Tom Bradley for many, many years and learned a lot from him. And, it really did form and shape a lot of the opinions that I still hold today on the future of the city and the opportunities this city has, and how to manage, quite frankly, as a centrist.
Peter Kiefer:
Broadening out this idea then, it doesn't even have to be necessarily be a mayor. We can even broaden it into a federal or state level. I'm just kind of curious, if you would, if there's a politician out there that you feel most ideologically aligned with. I mean, anyone, really. Is there anyone in the national landscape that strikes you that would be a comparison that would help voters get a sense of what a Caruso administration would be like?
Rick Caruso:
I think, again, I don't know everybody out there, in order to... I'm not trying to avoid the question. I just don't know that many elected officials. I'm different. I'm a centrist. I am socially liberal. I am fiscally conservative. I'm an entrepreneur and I built my own business. And, I've created jobs, but I've also served the government as a commissioner. And, I have a unique pedigree, a unique career out there, because I've had so many different experiences in this city, by running Department of Water and Power, by being the police commissioner and by starting a business from scratch. So, I don't know who else is out there that's done that. And so my...
Listen, the way I'm going to run this city is going to be the way I built my business. It's going to be all about listening and understanding the issues, being very problem-solving oriented. I like solving problems. I like complex problems that have practical solutions. I like moving the needle. I like bringing people together. I've done that in my business where I know how to bring people together to solve things, and I couldn't have built my business without doing that, and building a sense of community. And that's what Los Angeles needs, quite frankly, is somebody who's got leadership skills, skills as a chief executive for running a very complex city, and at the same standpoint, very compassionate and passionate about the city that I love so much, and that's why I'm doing this.
Peter Kiefer:
I want to get back to the consensus building in a few minutes, and I swear, this will be my last attempt to make a comparison for you. But, one name that I have, I've even mentioned it when I've written about you in the past, and others have done as well when trying to compare what your mayoralty could look like, is Michael Bloomberg. And I'm wondering, as a three-term mayor of New York City, do you invite that comparison or does it make you uncomfortable?
Rick Caruso:
I'm agnostic, to be honest, again, because I never lived in New York, and I don't know... I've met Michael Bloomberg. For many reasons, I think he was a very interesting mayor and did a lot of good things. But I never lived there, so I don't know how to judge him, to be honest. And, quite frankly, I don't know if I fall into a category. And I don't think Michael ever served city government before he became mayor, or served city government while he was building his business. I come with a very unique perspective, so.
Peter Kiefer:
Yeah, I don't think he had nearly the level of civic activity that you had had before he ran. But, as many business people who have gone into politics have discovered, getting things done in a political system is going to be very different from giving orders at a private enterprise like yours. And, especially in Los Angeles where the powers of the mayor are pretty limited, how do you plan to adjust your approach to "getting things done," knowing full well the challenges that will come with the job?
Rick Caruso:
No different. No doubt, it's a tough job, I mean, Peter. And you're right. The mayor of Los Angeles does not have all the authority that he or she should have. All the more reason to have somebody who is really skilled at being an executive, in knowing how to get things done. Listen, for people that are listening to this that know some of my properties, whether it's The Grove or the Americana or Palisades Village, or even up in Montecito, the Miramar, there is no way I could have built any of these projects without building consensus, without building community, without having people get excited about what I'm doing by giving people a vision, but very, very much listening to what they wanted and what they didn't want. I spent an enormous amount of time in communities, listening to people, hearing people, and building consensus, and reaching across the table. As mayor, I've got that skill. But I've also got the skill of then converting that into measurable, definable action that is moving the needle forward. And that's what this is going to take.
Rick Caruso:
The problems that the city has are complex. And yes, you have a strong city council that I'm going to have to work with every day. But I'm used to doing that, and I'm used to making compromise and finding solutions that creates a win-win for everybody. And, if you look at the projects that I've built and the business that I've built, I think it's greatly admired because communities around us have benefited from my investment in the areas. And that's what I want for this city. We can do so much better than what we're doing. And, just to be frank about it, career politicians have failed us, and it's not going to be the solution for the future, another career politician.
Peter Kiefer:
Yeah. I totally agree. I think, credibly, you have proved that you have the skills in dealing with the concerned homeowners and the "NIMBYs" that have plagued various portions of getting more housing built across the city. The entertainment industry isn't immune to L.A.'s housing crisis. There's been reports of below the line workers who are being forced to live in their cars. Everyone loves to think that everyone in Hollywood is so wealthy. And there are. There's astronomical salaries being made. But, below-the-line workers, there's a whole blue collar contingent in the industry that is living and dealing with the same macroeconomic problems that other workers are dealing with.
Peter Kiefer:
How does dealing with the NIMBYs that you've had to deal with in building a mall translate into dealing with trying to build the amount of housing that the city requires? Those strike me as two different skills, and the latter strikes me as probably more difficult than the former. But, I'm curious how that skillset can ultimately be applied to creating the hundreds of thousands of units that the city needs right now.
Rick Caruso:
Yeah. It's actually exactly the same skillset because, listen, people are very protective of their neighborhoods and rightfully so. People, a lot of times, do not want a development in their neighborhood, whether it's retail, whether it's housing. So you have to spend time listening. I mean, what I've said is that, if I spend my time as mayor in my office, I'm failing. I want to be on the streets. I want to be in the communities. I want to hear the concerns. And we have to find, in each different community, paths forward for housing to be built and still protect those communities, still protect the quality of life in those neighborhoods. I've done that over the last 30 years in my projects. Because every project, no matter what you're building, has impacts, whether they're traffic impacts, whether they're environmental impacts, but there's always a solution of how you thread through that. And it starts with listening to the concerns, and then designing projects that meet the needs of the community. It's perfectly the same thing.
Rick Caruso:
And here's what's happened in Los Angeles, and I feel for the below-the-line workers, because I think they've been unheard, and they need to have solutions so they have housing that's close to where they're working. We need to start peeling back the overregulation that we have in Los Angeles, that has made building housing here so expensive, and has actually been a detriment to people with capital. They don't want to build in Los Angeles. Why would you want to build in Los Angeles? You apply for a permit. It's two or three years. Increase your costs. You got crime that's spiking. Why do you want to invest money here? You have a homeless population that's ending up in front of your development, that's impacting your ability to sell a unit or lease a unit. So, we have to start solving these problems. But building housing, I'm a builder. I know how to do it. That is going to be a very, very big priority is making sure we're getting low to moderate housing built very quickly, and giving a path to doing it in a low cost and speedy way.
Peter Kiefer:
Because we're the Ankler, I want to talk a bit about some Hollywood-specific issues. Let's start with some of your supporters. This is a famously liberal industry. And yet, as a former Republican, you've generated a huge amount of support within the entertainment industry, Dana Walden at Disney, Netflix's Ted Sarandos, CAA's Bryan Lourd, just to name a few. Have you been surprised by the amount of support you've received? And, what is it about your message that you think strikes a chord with this group of people who, I would venture 10 years ago, may have been more reluctant to support a candidate with your, let's just say, unconventional profile as a Democrat?
Rick Caruso:
Well, listen, I left the Democratic Party, as you know, a long time ago. And, I'm now... I mean, the Republican Party a long time ago, and now, I'm a Democrat. But, none of these issues are Republican or Democratic issues. None of them are. These are human issues. These are issues that are affecting all of our lives every single day. When crime is spiking, when you've got homicides that are at a 15-year high and it's only getting worse, when you have hate crimes that are up 160 percent, when you have homelessness now at 44,000 and people dying in the streets, these are life and death issues that transcend any kind of party. And, I don't look at this as party politics from that standpoint. We've got just serious problems.
So, whether it's Bryan or Dana or Ted, or the host of others, whether it's in the entertainment industry or in any other industry, people are tired. They're upset. They feel unheard. Many are scared and worried about the future of this city. And people are looking for somebody to come in and be able to fix the problems. And they believe, and I'm sure you've asked them, they believe very, very strongly that I can fix the problems. And I believe very, very strongly that I can fix the problems. And I'm going to work very closely with Hollywood, because this town is Hollywood. And, instead of shipping the greatest industry we have in this city out of this city, I want to bring it back in this city.
And let's celebrate it. Let's be proud of it. My God, it gave the birth to so many of us and to so many other industries. We need to embrace it and find solutions to keep talent here and the great content that's being made here in Los Angeles. I want to be competitive with these other cities that are taking away our talent and our revenue.
Peter Kiefer:
You mentioned, yeah, runaway production has been sort of a problem for the town for quite some time. I'm curious, there's some other headwinds facing the industry. Employees at Warner Media Discovery are sort of bracing themselves for layoffs. Netflix has gone through a couple of rounds of layoffs. What do you think are the biggest problems, other than runaway production that you mentioned, that the industry is currently facing? And, are there any powers that the mayor has to do anything about it?
Rick Caruso:
I think the mayor's got a lot of power. First of all, you make it a priority, and I'm going to have a separate office within the mayor's office that's just going to focus on the entertainment industry. We have to have the cost of doing business for the entertainment industry, frankly, all businesses, but the entertainment industry to be lower in the city of Los Angeles. It has to be a speedy system in pulling permits. We do have to solve the housing problem. You can't build great companies where you're squeezing the middle class and you don't have housing for the middle class. You don't have entry-level homes. You can't build a great company.
Rick Caruso:
Look at Ted Sarandos. Here's a guy who said, "I'm going to make a commitment and have my headquarters actually in Hollywood," and made a big, incredibly wonderful commitment to the city. And what has the city done? The city has allowed encampments all around that headquarters. So, people don't want to come back to work. People are coming to work, and I've talked to the executives in there, coming to work carrying human waste on their shoes because there's so much human waste on the sidewalk, because we've allowed people to live in the most inhumane situation. It's incredible what all of our elected officials have allowed to happen. We're allowing people to live and die in the streets in their own waste. And then we allow that to happen in front of one of the great companies of Hollywood.
Rick Caruso:
We need to take small, medium and large businesses, thank them for being here, open the doors, welcome them for being here and say, "How can we help you grow your business?"so we're growing jobs, growing employment, building a bigger tax base for the city of Los Angeles, to, in turn, help those that need help, and providing a better path forward for the poor people, the souls living on the streets. That's the way I look at it. It's all connected. But Hollywood is a mainstay of our economy, and I'm going to embrace it and support it and work hard with these executives to grow it.
Peter Kiefer:
You probably saw last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom took out an ad that was urging the entertainment industry to stop filming in certain states, getting back to this idea of the questions about runaway production. All the states that he mentioned are being run by Republicans. And it seems to be part of this escalating wars between red states like Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma, and blue states like California. Do you think this move by Governor urging Hollywood to not shoot in places like Georgia is a wise one?
Rick Caruso:
I think the governor is spot on in wanting to keep entertainment production in the state of California. I want it in the city of Los Angeles. But, listen, the entertainment business is a business, and you have to give them a business reason why to be here. So you can certainly ask them, you can encourage them. But at the end of the day, it has to make sense financially for them to be here.
But I would also say this, all the executives that I talk to, they want content to be made in Los Angeles. They want it to be close to home. They don't want to have to travel to make the content. But we also have to be business friendly, right? You can only go so far by suggesting or begging or pleading. And, I'm going to look at it by putting together the best minds in the industry, bringing people together and say, "You tell me what you need, to make sure that the content is being created here. You tell me what you need, to make sure we can hire and house those that you need to make the content."
We need to have a more livable city, but the experts in the industry are going to be a big part of my administration to make sure that we have the content being made here.
Peter Kiefer:
But, the governor was specifically targeting states that have enacted laws that are limiting abortion rights. Does the governor using abortion rights to limit interstate commerce make you comfortable, considering you might be the mayor of the entertainment capital of the world.
Rick Caruso:
What I have to focus on is what's going to be right for the city of Los Angeles, and what's right for the city of Los Angeles, and thank God, we're in the state of California, is a woman have the right to choose, beginning and end. And, I'm going to make darn sure that women who want to come into the city of Los Angeles feel safe and protected and embraced and respected. And that's what's important. What the governor decides to do is up to the governor. I've only got one allegiance here because I'm not looking for a career in politics. I want to clean up the city that I love, and I want to come back to private life. And I want to do it in a way that celebrates everybody's personal lifestyle. And that's the way I've always lived my life, and I'm going to be that way as mayor.
Peter Kiefer:
Right. Right. I guess, and my last one on this ad that the governor took out, in an interview you gave a while back to Los Angeles Magazine, you seem to indicate that you were pro-life. And then, I think you've come out and said that your stance has changed. I'm wondering, could you, for our audience, just clarify what your position is exactly? Because this is such a heated debate, and I feel like there's some nuance here that we could just clarify, if you just told us, where do you stand on this issue? Are there any restrictions that you would put on this at all? Just once and for all, where do you stand on the issue?
Rick Caruso:
Yeah. And I appreciate you asking me, Peter, because what's been so disappointing to me is that, my religion, being a Catholic, just like our president, and just like Nancy Pelosi being a Catholic, has been weaponized against me because of pure politics. This is what you call insider Washington politics being used against me. I am a Catholic. I love my faith. But I also have free will. And, I make decisions based on what I think is best.
I have always been in pro-choice. I have never been against a woman's right to choose. And I remain pro-choice. I also live with a very strong and smart wife of 37 years and a very strong and smart daughter who's 22. I would no more ever try to tell them what to do with their body or how to make decisions on their life, because I respect a woman's right to choose.
Rick Caruso:
My comments in LA Magazine were about, maybe, how I felt at the time. Has my feeling evolved on abortions? Of course, it's evolved on abortions. And we want to have leaders that do evolve. But I've never been against the woman's right to choose. And that's been used against me and it's a falsehood, and I'm glad you've given me the opportunity to clean that up.
Peter Kiefer:
You're welcome. Thank you for coming on. I wanted to talk a bit about some other areas that you've received some criticism on. One was for registering as a Democrat just weeks before you announced that you'd be running for mayor. I'm curious, at what point did you realize that you were no longer a Republican? Was there a specific event that occurred, that you could point towards, where you had to reevaluate your party affiliation? What happened? And then also, in addition to that, what is it on the Republican platform that you no longer agree with?
Rick Caruso:
I left the Republican Party over a decade ago. There was a direction of the Republican Party that I was uncomfortable with. And again, like I said, I have always been socially liberal and fiscally conservative. The Republican Party was heading in a direction that I thought were restricting people's rights to live. I live in the city of Los Angeles, and I built my business by having millions of people showing up to my properties every year, millions and millions of people. They are from every background, every ethnicity, every race. And, they have given me an opportunity to build my business that I don't believe I could have had anywhere else. So I have great respect for people's ability to choose how they want to live their life. And I felt the Republican Party was inconsistent with that. So I became independent, and I remained that way.
I became a Democrat before this election, and it really hit me after the January 6 rioting and knowing what was going to be coming down the road. I was so taken back, and I was on the record the next day, on CNBC, talking about it, how terrible it was what happened, that as a country, that we can never allow that to happen. I do not want to be a part or associated with a party that may accept what happened back there. So I did choose to be a Democrat because I felt strongly I had to take a position. I couldn't remain in the middle. And, that's what I've done. And I'm proud that I've done it. And, I remain a Centrist Democrat.
Peter Kiefer:
Right. Right. I remember that it was during the Black Lives Matter protest, when some vandalism unfortunately broke out at one of your properties, I think it was The Grove. And, you published an editorial in the LA Times that was nothing short of scathing. I think you calling out, and I think rightfully so, all the elected officials who were Democrats, including the mayor of the city, Eric Garcetti. When I read that editorial, it didn't strike me as someone who seemed eager to become a Democrat, considering everyone you were criticizing was of one party affiliation. Is it safe to assume that your transition to becoming a Democrat occurred after that? You just mentioned January 6th. I'm just trying to really drill down if there was one particular thing, because if it was an evolution or one pointed event, so it sounds like it was the January 6th. Is that accurate?
Rick Caruso:
No, Peter. What I said was, I left the party 10 years ago. There was a direction the Republican Party that was heading that I wasn't clear about. My criticism of Eric Garcetti and the elected officials on what happened in Los Angeles with the protests, I don't care what affiliation they were. I was scathingly critical of Donald Trump. When he announced running for president, I criticized him. I told him he was banned from The Grove. We allowed Bernie Sanders to come here at The Grove. We would not allow Donald Trump to come here at The Grove. I was very clear.
So, I'm very clear-eyed when it comes to anybody in elected office, that I feel has failed their sacred duty to serve those, that they take an oath to protect. And, during the riots and the protests here in Los Angeles, I believe firmly that those elected officials failed that sacred duty. People were injured. People lost their lives. We were coming out of COVID. It was completely mismanaged. It wasn't about property damage at The Grove. It was about the businesses all around me that were destroyed. Small businesses that had just been closed after two years of COVID, and within a couple of weeks, their windows are broken out and looted. That's not service to a city that I'm ever going to compliment. I don't care what party you're a part of.
And I think we need to have clarity in this city, that we just want to have a more livable city that accepts people where they are, support somebody's right to have a business, give them the safety that they need to raise a family. These are fundamental needs that the mayor of Los Angeles. Clean the streets, have the parks clean, allow your children to be able to walk to a park without having to go over encampments, right? These are basic needs. And that's what I'm focused on as mayor. I'm not concerned about national politics and who's a Republican and who's a Democrat. It doesn't matter to me. I'm here to serve the residents of the city of Los Angeles, wherever they may be.
Peter Kiefer:
Last one about the entertainment industry. You've gotten a number of these high-profile celebrity endorsers, but I'm wondering, could you name names of a sounding board of people you'd call, who are directly working in the entertainment industry that you would sort of check in on, who could give you the pulse of the town and could tell you what's happening? Do you have a, I don't know, a brain trust that's specific to the entertainment industry that you could share some of the names with?
Rick Caruso:
Well, you mentioned them. I mean, I talk to Bryan Lourd. I talk to Dana. I talked to Nicole Avant. I talk to Ted. Listen, I talk to Clarence Avant. I love the fact that Clarence is a supporter. I mean, he's got a history that very few people have. So, there's a long list of people. And when I'm mayor, I'm going to talk to all of them. And it's not just talking to the leadership and the CEOs, it's going to be talking to the people, as you say, below the line, talking to the people that are working every day that actually make this magic happen, that are actually in the studios, that are on the lots, that are working hard. It's a massive industry, that I need to constantly be open to understanding the nuances of making sure that they're excited about being in Los Angeles and want to grow their presence in Los Angeles.
And we have an opportunity, I think, Peter, in this city right now, that is so unique, to bring people back into this city, not only in the entertainment industry, but in technology, because of Northern California having issues that are even more complex than ours, that we can attract some of the greatest minds and innovation in technology. I think the city has a incredibly bright future, if we change the trajectory and really make it a much more livable city.
Peter Kiefer:
A couple more for you, I wanted to ask you about your competition, Congresswoman Karen Bass. I think these things can get sort of heated, but you guys, I interviewed Karen a few weeks ago, and I followed both of your careers. I'm wondering, what do you like about Karen Bass, and what do you think she's done well?
Rick Caruso:
I've known Congresswoman Bass for probably over a decade, at least. We've worked together. I've supported her. I think, from a legislative standpoint, she understands legislation. I think she's incredibly well-intended and wants to do the right thing. I think she's a good, good person, and I'm glad to call her my friend. So, we've gotten along for many, many years, and it's interesting that we find ourselves in this situation. And I think there's mutual respect between us. I certainly respect her.
Peter Kiefer:
How would you rate Eric Garcetti's tenure? And do you think he should become ambassador to India, or are the accusations of all this toxicity within city hall enough to disqualify him?
Rick Caruso:
I don't think it's my place to be rating him. I can talk about who I think will be the best mayor between me and Congresswoman Bass. But, I think the current mayor, like the Congresswoman, are career politicians that have come out of a system, and that system has failed this city. And, the Congresswoman has represented the city of Los Angeles for over 20 years, and she has to be held accountable to why the problems under her watch and her leadership had continued to get worse. And, what has she done about changing them? Because she's been a very powerful Congresswoman. And, has she introduced legislation to solve homelessness? Has she introduced legislation and had a past to help with crime? And so, to come in now and say, "Well, I'm going to go fix everything," I would say, "Well, first, tell us what you've done."
Peter Kiefer:
Right. Right. Last real question, and then two fun ones for the ending. I promise, we're almost done here. If you win, you might be inheriting a city that's facing yet another pandemic, this one caused by monkeypox, which the numbers are spiking right now. How concerned are you about it? And, would your approach to dealing with it differ from the way the city dealt with the COVID pandemic?
Rick Caruso:
Well, I would follow the science and be very strict in following the science. And, I think the city of Los Angeles, and me as mayor, I've got two big priorities every single day. And that's to protect the lives of the residents of Los Angeles, and also to protect their livelihoods. And there has to be a delicate balance on that. And, I do not agree, in the last stages of the pandemic, how LA County Health handled it, or the city of Los Angeles handled it. I think they were way too quick to be closing businesses and people were hurting. People are still hurting, Peter. They have had not been able to regain what they've lost in their businesses.
Rick Caruso:
You drive around the city. We all see it, the amount of storefronts that are still closed. 90% of the businesses in Los Angeles are small businesses. We need to protect them. A huge amount of businesses in Los Angeles are women-owned. We need to protect them. A huge amount are Latino-owned and employ the Latino community. It's the largest community in this city. And I think they've been left unheard and we need to protect them. So, you have to be very scientific about it. So I would handle it differently.
Peter Kiefer:
Okay. Let's end on a lighter note. What is the last movie that you saw in a theater?
Rick Caruso:
Well, you know what? I follow my wife's direction on streaming, and we haven't been to a theater lately, which pains me, because I've got some great theaters on my properties. Saturday night, my wife and I watched the movie, Thirteen Lives, by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, and it was terrific. It was a great movie, really enjoyed it.
Peter Kiefer:
And when the biopic is inevitably going to be made about Rick Caruso's life, which actor would you prefer to play you?
Rick Caruso:
Whoever is regarded as a loyal, devout and loving father and husband, whoever that may be, because that's a-
Peter Kiefer:
That's a dodge. I need a name here.
Rick Caruso:
That's not a dodge. Peter, once you and I get to know me better, you'll realize that's the only thing I care about, is my family and my kids and my wife.
Peter Kiefer:
Last one. If pressed, what would be the title of this biopic about your life?
Rick Caruso:
He worked every day to try to be a really good man, and give back to the community that he loves, and family was always first in his life.
Peter Kiefer:
Rick, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. You've been very generous, and we-
Rick Caruso:
Really grateful, Peter. I'm a big fan of yours and your podcast. I'm really grateful and excited that you had me on it, so thank you. It's an honor.
Peter Kiefer:
Thanks much. We'll be in touch soon. Take care. Bye.