Rick Caruso is a real-estate developer, a philanthropist, and in some ways a city insider — he ran for mayor against Karen Bass in 2022, and lost. He is also a Palisades Fire survivor. His family lost three homes that night — and were it not for the private firefighters he hired, Caruso’s businesses in the Palisades Village might have also burned down.
He started the nonprofit Steadfast LA to assist with the rebuilding of neighborhoods in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and Malibu, and has not been shy with his criticism of how local governments, particularly L.A. city Mayor Karen Bass, has handled the response to January’s deadly and destructive fires.He talks about all of it with host Kate Cagle.

Guests: Rick Caruso, L.A. businessman, founder, Steadfast LA
David Goldblum, filmmaker and Malibu resident

Related articles:AI is coming soon to speed up sluggish permitting for fire rebuilds, officials say: https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2025-05-14/l-a-wildfire-survivors-complain-that-rebuilding-is-too-slow-can-ai-helpCaruso-backed nonprofit partners with builder to give prefab homes to fire victims: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-02-20/caruso-backed-nonprofit-partners-with-builder-to-give-prefab-homes-to-fire-victimsDays before Palisades inferno, firefighters were ordered to leave smoldering burn site: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-10-30/firefighters-ordered-to-leave-smoldering-palisades-burn-siteMore on David Blum’s film @bigrockburning on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigrockburning/?hl=en