This is specific to Los Angeles politics, but I think it fits here. For those not familiar, he's a billionaire real estate developer running for mayor. If he gets 50%+ of the primary vote he will automatically become mayor with no further elections held. This is why he has spent $23 million on his own primary campaign.
Among other things, he owns a $100 million mega yacht and The Grove, an upscale outdoor mall and tourist spot complete with its own trolley that goes about 1/8th of a mile and a mini Bellagio style fountain.
The reason I'm posting this here is because years ago I used to work retail at The Grove. I made $8.50 an hour. Caruso charged the stores exorbitant rent and then ~extracted more value~ by charging employees to park, which was $12/day. You could park for 3 hours for free. Some people timed their breaks so they could spend their lunch or their 15 driving in and out of the mall. During the Summer tourist season meant you spent most or all of your break wasting gas trying to find a spot.
Some people, like me, would park on the side streets. I was chronically late to my shifts and when my manager asked me why I didn't just park in the structure I told them the same thing every time: “I don't want to work an hour and a half for free.”
One day I came in to work and was informed that there was going to be a big management meeting with Caruso's company. It turned out that a woman had worked a closing shift and she was stabbed walking back to the sidestreet where she had parked her car.
We thought maybe this would finally get us free employee parking. After the big meeting all of the managers came back to their stores and told the employees they had a solution.
“From now, you'll use the buddy system to walk back to your cars.”
That was it, back to business as usual. Years later I ended up temping at the property management offices for The Grove. Their lobby area was filled with cases and cases of awards and plaques from various charitable groups thanking Caruso for his donations. But I still had to pay $12 to park there so I could earn $12/hour for a single day's work.
When I found out Caruso was running I remembered this and I was enraged. This man gladly sucked every penny he could out of his corporate tenants and the employees who created the wealth their employers turned over to him. And if one of them nearly died for this privilege it wasn't worth risking his profits to keep them safe.
Fuck all billionaires. Fuck employers who won't cover basic costs like parking. And fuck Rick Caruso, I'll believe he cares about the homeless when he cares about low-wage employees.