Letters to the Editor: Could Karen Bass and Rick Caruso form a ‘team of rivals’?

To the editor: When the race between Rick Caruso and Rep. Karen Bass was set, I thought how lucky Los Angeles was to have such highly qualified candidates running for mayor. While the winner has not yet been declared, I expect either would serve our city well.

Bass knows her way around government, and Caruso is a manager of large organizations who can make things happen. Unfortunately, we can’t turn the two candidates into one person — or can we?

In the book “Team of Rivals,” historian Doris Kearns Goodwin details Abraham Lincoln’s political genius of including the best and the brightest of his opponents on his cabinet. Now, isn’t that a good idea?

How about if the winner of the mayoral election invites the runner-up to become a deputy mayor of Los Angeles? This would give the city the strengths of both candidates. After all, no matter the outcome, the race will wind up close.

Karl F. Schmid, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Kudos to Bass for running a relatively clean campaign against Caruso’s seeming endless cash flow. Both candidates seem to have the same objective regarding homelessness.

After Bass wins the mayoral race (which it looks like she will), maybe she could offer Caruso an olive branch. He could be appointed head of a task force to address homelessness and utilize some of his ideas along with hers to solve one of the major problems facing Angelenos.

Since both candidates are Democrats, their political beliefs should be similar.

Eddy Jacobs, Santa Monica