LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Five candidates for mayor of Los Angeles participated in Tuesday night’s first televised debate of the 2022 campaign cycle, including City Attorney Mike Feuer, city councilmembers Joe Buscaino and Kevin de León, U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D.-L.A.), and Metropolitan Transportation Authority boardmember Mel Wilson.
Conspicuously missing from the event held at Loyola Marymount University was billionaire property developer Rick Caruso, who announced he was throwing his hat in the ring to replace outgoing Mayor Eric Garcetti one week ago. Caruso did not attend due to a scheduling conflict, a spokesperson said.
Despite his absence, Caruso was one the receiving end of some of the night’s sharpest rebukes. Feuer suggested Caruso had not done enough as chairman of the University of Southern California’s Board of Trustees to ensure safety for women on campus, in the wake of scandals involving sexual assault in fraternity houses and a gynecology practice. The latter resulted in a near-billion-dollar payout to the alleged victims of Dr. George Tyndall.
Buscaino accused the real-estate magnate of being anti-union. “There’s one candidate who’s not here today who supported doing all he could to silence our working families and unions,” Buscaino said, taking aim at Caruso’s support of a failed 2005 ballot initiative that would have prohibited government employee unions from spending membership dues on political campaigns without payers’ consent.
The move would have “silenced cops, firefighters, teachers, electricians,” Buscaino said.
“None of these things happened on my watch,” Caruso said in a statement, responding to Feuer’s attacks. “The payout of a billion dollars we did because we made the decision that terrible things happened before I was chair. We had to do right by the students who were harmed by this horrible doctor. We stood up to do the right thing.”
In response to Buscaino, Caruso said he believes unions “should have the right to use every tool at their disposal to even the playing field,” and that councilmember was referring to nearly two-decade-old political contributions that went to a slate of ballot initiatives.
A spokesperson for the Caruso campaign said he intended to participate in future debates, including one scheduled for May 1.
The five candidates and Caruso were considered the most likely to win the race to replace Garcetti. They will compete in a June 7 primary, and the top two contenders will head to a Nov. 8 runoff.
As of February, Rep. Karen Bass has maintained a sizable lead in polling.
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