Caruso, Bass Hold More Civil Debate In Wake Of LA Council’s Racist Remarks Scandal

“What’s happened is completely unacceptable and those that did it need to be held accountable,” Caruso said. “But I think there’s more than we need to talk about. They went into a back room to carve up the city for their own special interest for themselves. The system is broken, and it’s full of corruption.”

This prompted one of the moderators to ask both candidates if they would support giving control of redistricting to an independent civilian committee rather than have City Councilmembers decide it. Both candidates answered yes without hesitation, with Caruso adding that he had stated he would do so as Mayor months ago.

Both candidates also agreed with each other on what to do about the City Council scandal for a large part of the debate, with Bass and Caruso agreeing to not let the city fall back into chaos, and to get LA back on track with governance.

“We have to get to it immediately,” noted Bass. “I do think the pressure is going to weigh on them, and they will resign, but the city cannot be in a standstill like this. You saw what happened at city council today.”

Caruso added that the LA system of government is broken and, in a swipe at Bass’ ongoing USC corruption accusations, added that anyone under a ‘clout of corruption’ should not be qualified for a leadership position.

“I think it’s the job of the mayor to make sure we’re not going to have chaos while this is going on,” added Caruso. “This is what leadership is all about. We have a system that is literally broken, and it’s been broken for a long time. It’s full of corruption. I think anybody who is under a cloud of corruption should not be qualified to be in a leadership position. Especially now. That’s why there’s tension throughout this city. It’s because of the failure of leadership.”

Bass v. Caruso: Round Three

While the first half of the debate was all about the scandal, the second half returned to issues stressed in previous debates, such as homelessness, crime, and drug use. While most of the points were covered in previous debates, a few new positions on issues came up.

A question over the 2024 ballot measure that would force hotels to give vacant rooms to homeless people was met with rejection by both candidates. However, both candidates were split on giving a pledge to not raise taxes for homeless issues, if elected Mayor. Caruso agreed to the pledge while Bass did not. While Bass said that not agreeing to the pledge didn’t mean that she would raise taxes and that it would only remain there as a last resort if nothing else worked, Caruso immediately fired back “That means you’re going to raise taxes.”

Overall, most commentators on Tuesday and Wednesday noted a much calmer and more civil tone to the debate as compared to the last two.

“With such a serious scandal, both candidates didn’t want to further divide the city and instead stressed unity and denouncing both racism and the Councilmembers in this scandal,” explained Jan Ives, a Washington-based local election analyst, in a Globe interview Wednesday. “Regardless where you are politically, that much should be applauded. Neither Bass nor Caruso wanted this situation to get any worse.”

“And they didn’t have much time to prepare for the debate, meaning that a lot of what you saw up there was raw. Both stumbled at times up there during the questions over the scandal, but it was a real moment with Bass and Caruso the people, not Bass and Caruso the politicians. Of course they were disgusted and angry, and their comments were not exactly sanded down.”

“The big difference to most people was what the candidates said they would do. Bass wanted a more community approach, while Caruso wanted to challenge the very system more and focus on corruption. Caruso could have easily pointed out how Martinez supports Bass as Mayor or Bass noting Cedillo’s support of Caruso. But they didn’t. It was instead more raw and a ‘what you are in the dark’ moment for both. Bass wanted to calm the city by going down to the community level, with Caruso wanting to continue looking into City Hall and exposing more corruption.”

“I think Caruso once again came a little ahead of Bass though. It was great to see them both being more civil, but Caruso’s points about further corruption, about stating for months wanting redistricting changes, and nailing Bass on the homeless tax pledge showed him to be a bit more on the ball and pragmatic.”

“So I would walk away with that and the fact that both candidates showed what they would do in a crisis as Mayor And let’s be realistic, a scandal that will still be rocking the city by the time one of them is sworn in.”