#2268 - Rick Caruso

SPEAKER_2 (0:03)

The Joe Rogan Experience.

Joe Rogan (0:06)

Shrain by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day. Good to see you, sir.

Rick Caruso (0:14)

Thanks for having me. It's great to be here.

Joe Rogan (0:15)

Thanks for being here. It is a terrible time for Los Angeles. Unfortunately, you did not win. I wanted you to win.

Rick Caruso (0:25)

Thank you.

Joe Rogan (0:25)

I was rooting for you.

Rick Caruso (0:26)

Thank you.

Joe Rogan (0:27)

It's just, the politics in LA are, it's almost like watching people who are in a cult, who are being confronted by the cult experts or telling them, hey, this is all crazy and fake, and you're ruining your life, and they're like, no, no, no, I think it's going to work out.

Rick Caruso (0:45)

Well, there's a lot of things that aren't working out.

Joe Rogan (0:47)

Yeah.

Rick Caruso (0:47)

There's a lot of things that are. I mean, listen, I know like you being, spending time and living in LA, it's an amazing city.

Joe Rogan (0:54)

It's amazing.

Rick Caruso (0:55)

And when I ran for office, as much as I loved LA, I actually fell in love with it more, because I got to see places that I wouldn't normally see. And so it was really amazing, and people and the diversity and the dearness of so many neighborhoods and people. But what's happened to LA over the last decade is just tragic. And people are paying huge consequences for it. And it's sad to watch.

Joe Rogan (1:23)

So, if you get to the heart of it, like if you did, if you won and you became the mayor of LA, what could you do to try to turn this battleship around? Because it's a big battleship.

Rick Caruso (1:35)

It's a big battleship, and people argue that the mayor of LA doesn't have a lot of authority like other mayors. You know, I learned a lot, Joe. I worked for three mayors. I worked for Tom Bradley when I was in my mid-20s as a commissioner. I was the head of Department of Water and Power. I worked for Dick Riordan. He brought me back in to head of DWP during the energy crisis. The department was under a lot of financial strain. And then I worked for Jim Haunt, who brought me in to turn around LAPD, and I was the police commissioner, the head of the police commission. So I've seen really good leadership.

And honestly, what we've had in the last two mayors is not good leadership, and we're paying a price for it. So you may not have a lot of power, but actually, I think the most powerful thing you can have that I learned as a police commissioner, if you're not worried about getting re-elected or re-appointed, it's really amazing what can happen. Because you can make decisions that are actually in the best interest of the people. And I believe the career politicians are always worried about getting re-elected. They are scared to death of getting a real job. They've never had to sign the front of a check, only the back. So it's very difficult for them to even think about being out of office. So they just circulate. You know, they go from the city council to the state assembly to the state senate. And we end up with the same sort of look and feel of leadership, which is pretty weak. I think Dick Rudin was a good example of a guy who came in and did a lot of great stuff. I actually think Jimmy Hine did a lot of great stuff as mayor. So I would go in there with some strong leadership. I would certainly go in there and reach across the aisle and find common ground and all of those things you need to do to move forward. But I would certainly plant some really strong goals that everybody knew we were working towards, because I believe that either lead, follow or get out of the way. And I really admire people who lead. And I wouldn't mind being a little bit controversial if it's in the interest of doing what's in the best interest of the residents.

Joe Rogan (3:47)

Well that's what I enjoyed about your campaign. And that's what I was really hopeful about, is that it seemed like you were not running for mayor because you wanted to be the mayor. You were running for mayor because you're a businessman. And you realized that this was not being run like a successful business. You knew how to run a successful business. You knew the difference. And LA is just constantly plagued by this crony political movement. The same people, the same type of people, shuffling in and out. And it just nothing ever changes.