Rick Caruso stood next to the woman who beat him for mayor four years ago and praised her work rebuilding Pacific Palisades after the 2025 fires.
The billionaire developer appeared with Mayor Karen Bass at his Palisades Village shopping center Tuesday, Oct. 20, to announce a new program streamlining city utility services. But the event carried unmistakable political weight two weeks before the Nov. 3 mayoral runoff, as first reported by LA Mag.
Caruso commended Bass for moving quickly on Palisades fire recovery and pointed to the rebuilding of the Palisades Recreation Center, a more than $50 million public-private partnership led by his nonprofit, Steadfast LA. He said the project, funded entirely by philanthropic donations with no taxpayer money, would not have been possible without support from the mayor's office.
"I do show extreme concern when a candidate is talking about firing a chief of police," Caruso said, according to the Los Angeles Times, referring to challenger Nithya Raman's pledge to replace Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Jim McDonnell.
Caruso described McDonnell as one of the best police chiefs in the country. He said he worried about the direction Raman would take the department, citing her endorsement by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Still, Caruso declined to formally endorse either candidate. When reporters pressed him, he said he knows whom he plans to vote for but would not disclose his choice. At a groundbreaking with Bass in September for the Palisades Recreation Center, Caruso had called both Bass and Raman "tough choices," the Times reported.
Bass, who defeated Caruso by nearly 10 percentage points in 2022 after he spent more than $100 million on his campaign, said the two have maintained a working relationship. She told reporters Caruso offered ideas after the fires and that her administration adopted some of his proposals.
The joint appearance came the same day Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath endorsed Raman, according to the Times. Horvath, whose district covers 2 million people across the Westside and San Fernando Valley, accused Bass of failing to deliver on homelessness promises.
The endorsement race remains lopsided. Thirteen of Raman's council colleagues have endorsed Bass, along with four of five county supervisors and county Sheriff Robert Luna. Raman counts Horvath, City Controller Kenneth Mejia and school board member Rocio Rivas among her elected backers.
A UC Berkeley/Los Angeles Times poll from mid-September showed Raman leading Bass 39% to 28% among likely voters, with a third of the electorate undecided. Policing has emerged as a central issue: at the Oct. 13 televised debate, Raman called for McDonnell's removal, saying the LAPD appeared to be protecting federal immigration agents. Bass warned that removing the chief before the 2028 Olympics would send the department into disarray.
The Nov. 3 runoff is the only scheduled election date. Caruso and Bass also used Tuesday's event to announce Power Ready LA, an initiative to lower upfront utility costs for housing and commercial projects through the Department of Water and Power.
