Billionaire Developer Caruso Slams LA Leadership Over Wildfires
(Bloomberg) -- Rebuilding homes destroyed by wildfires in the Los Angeles area could take more than a year to even begin — and that’s if everything goes smoothly, according to Rick Caruso, a billionaire developer and former mayoral candidate who says city leaders failed to protect lives and property.
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“Can the public rely on our leadership to set the right priority?” Caruso, who ran unsuccessfully for LA mayor in 2022, said in an interview. “What’s been, unfortunately, proven to be true is the answer is ‘no.’ The priority of government is to keep people safe and to give them an opportunity to prosper. And they failed on both of those.”
The Palisades and Eaton fires, fueled by strong winds and unseasonably dry conditions, have killed at least 28 people and scorched 15,000 structures, mostly homes. As of Thursday, they were between 72% and 95% contained.
Caruso said officials failed to heed weather warnings and were unprepared for the powerful gusts that drove the flames. He hired private firefighters to protect his Palisades Village shopping center, which was spared even as homes and buildings all around it were destroyed.
Officials have faced criticism over reports that dry hydrants hampered early efforts to control the fires, with officials saying the infrastructure wasn’t built for blazes of such a massive size.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass pushed back against Caruso’s comments, with her office highlighting her executive orders to expedite debris removal and slash red tape to accelerate rebuilding.
“Mayor Bass is leading our city through one of the worst crises in our history,” spokesperson Zach Seidl said in an emailed statement. “Hurricane-force winds and unseasonably dry conditions drove these firestorms. Misinformation surrounding this crisis has been staggering.”
Property losses from Palisades and Eaton fires may reach $45 billion, according to an estimate by real estate information service CoreLogic Inc. Before leaving office, Joe Biden pledged full federal aid for the first 180 days of firefighting, but President Donald Trump has yet to offer similar support. Congressional Republicans have called for disaster funding to come with conditions.
Caruso spoke on Wednesday as the Hughes Fire erupted north of Los Angeles, burning more than 10,000 acres and putting 50,000 people under evacuation orders or warnings, while a new blaze broke out early Thursday near Bel Air just off the 405 freeway.
Here are excerpts from the interview, edited for clarity and conciseness.
President Trump is visiting Los Angeles on Friday to see the wildfire damage. What should be his takeaways?
It’s important for him to see the vastness of the destruction, both in the Palisades and in Altadena. I hope they drive through it rather than fly over it, because you really need to see it from the ground to get to get a full sense of the scope of it and the devastation.
He’s a man that understands development and building, which is great. So bringing that expertise to the county and the city, along with the federal funding, is going to be critically important.
How soon, if everything goes right, can people move back?
Everybody should start being able to build their house within a year. That would be my goal. There’s going to be a shortage of everything, which is going to be an issue. There’s going to be a shortage of architects. There’s going to be a shortage of contractors. There’s going to be a shortage of supplies. But, you know, a year to two years, I’d like to see that place massively under construction.
How should they rebuild?
Quickly remove the toxic waste. Quickly remove the debris. And, at the same time, start engineering the upgrades to the infrastructure. All the power lines should be underground. The streets need to get rebuilt. The water mains need to get resized. This is an older community, and it needs to be brought into the 21st century. And then cut the red tape at the city level to issue building permits.
Preserving the nature and the character of the Palisades, and again, the same with Altadena, is very important. People that live there want to go back to the lifestyle that they had. I don’t think they want to make it look like it’s a master-planned development.
A lot of labor in construction is immigrants. Do you think Trump’s mass deportation policy is good for doing all this work?
What I’ve heard him say is that they’re focusing on capturing criminals and gangs, people with a record of crime. I agree with that. But listen, we need immigrants in California. We certainly need the immigrant population in Los Angeles. And to your point, we need them to help rebuild the city.
What will happen to your Palisades shopping center while they’re still rebuilding the homes?
We’re going to reopen as as soon as we can, as soon as it’s safe to reopen and the toxic waste is removed from around us. We plan on being literally a beacon of hope and a gathering place for that community.
Do you want to run for mayor again?
Honestly, I’m not even thinking about it, because right now, I am so focused on trying to get the city and the state to work together and do it quickly to get things going. I’m frustrated.
(Updates with damage estimates in eighth paragraph.)
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