Editor, Jason Schaff Rick Caruso came a courting the Valley business types who gathered at the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn a few days ago. It was one of those Valley Industry & Commerce Association events where you get to meet a local newsmaker. Caruso is best known in local business circles as a developer of such popular retail complexes as the Commons at Calabasas and the Americana at Brand as well as The Grove over on the Westside. But he’s also a newsmaker in that he has headed the L.A. Police Commission and is considered by many to be a frontrunner to be L.A.’s next mayor if he runs. He decided against running the last time around but he’s testing the waters again. He was clearly testing the waters at the Beverly Garland. He asked the attendees how many of them think he should run for mayor. Most people raised their hands. Valley business types really appreciate the fact that Mayor Villaraigosa has visited the Valley a lot since taking office but they don’t think he’s done all that much for business. He’s not really one of them, they believe. But Caruso is. And many believe he would be a good successor to Villaraigosa. He’s familiar with the painful permitting process and anti-business climate in the city even though I’m sure he doesn’t stand in line for anything. Caruso struck a chord with some people at the VICA event. They felt what he said was genuine, not that rehearsed and logical. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a pro-Caruso column nor am I endorsing him for anything. In fact, I don’t think he’s all that committed right now. He said that he’s still not convinced the L.A. mayoral position really is the place where he can make a difference. I’m not sure he’s got the temperament to be mayor. He probably is accustomed to getting what he wants. He may fear compromise will make him look weak. I don’t know the guy so I’m probably being unfair in those comments. But he did say some things that made sense. Most of it had to do with the livability of L.A. He cited the fact that many believe that Los Angeles has no sense of place. He may be right. He self-servingly claims that his Grove and Americana complexes actually sort of give a center to the areas that they are located. I think Glendale city officials may dispute that. They may feel the city does have a center. But he does make a point. His developments are places to gather with family and friends. He compliments the Valley by saying that we at least have our neighborhoods and communities (Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino, Studio City etc.) that try to develop a sense of place despite being in Los Angeles. He’s a huge advocate of light rail. Like me, he thinks the subway is stupid. He says every one of us will be underground for long enough without being there every day on our commute. More tightly focusing his remarks to business issues, Caruso said the business tax should be eliminated. He said that the city’s development process including planning and permitting is way too hard to get through but it’s fixable. He said it just needs to be streamlined. This will take leadership from the top. He said that those people in charge of the process must vow to make things better or be fired. Simple as that. I like that approach. He does have a no-nonsense logical approach. But he’s not mired in the political process as much as those people currently holding office. It’s easy to say all this stuff. But it’s refreshing anyway for the moment. Oh, Caruso also believes that the city should contract out to run certain operations such as the zoo and maybe water and power. The city needs to be more of a safety net, not the main thing in control. That is a sensible and compassionate approach. Anyway, Caruso has some good ideas. But they’re not completely thought out yet. But it’s good to see the business approach to solving problems. As we know, however, in the political arena that often doesn’t go very far. Recession is Over I must comment on this before I end this column. In one of the more laughable bits of business news ever to be released, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared recently that the recession we’ve all been talking about – and still talk about as if we are still in it – ended in June 2009. OK. Tell that to the people who applied to a job posting the Business Journal made recently — the dozens and dozens of people, many of them over-qualified for the position. Tell that to the businesspeople I have talked to in the past year who are barely holding on or have closed their enterprises. I know, that bit of economic news is purely academic. It doesn’t reflect reality. OK. We all feel better now. Business Journal Editor Jason Schaff can be reached at (818) 316-3125 or at [email protected].
